The Black Sword Trilogy: The Four Nations

by VanMeter, Jeffery

  “It was a bloodbath at first, sir. But they sure underestimated the people of Korsh. They’re putting up one hell of a fight.”

  “Do they need any help?” Kenner asked him.

  “I think it’s those soldiers in black armor that need help sir, not us.”

  “The island hasn’t been taken either and most of the ships Captains and Generals are still alive.” The soldier added. “Look,” he said pointing around to the ships moored at the island’s dock. “You can already see our troops getting ready for a counter attack. We’ll be sailing in less than an hour.”

  “They need the Spear, though; at least someone to show that Sheyron still has it.” Terri said seriously.

  She looked at Kenner and then gestured toward Firth. At first she thought she was joking. Although the same age as Kenner, he could tell this boy as no soldier or leader. But as he thought of it for a moment more, he was overcome by the feeling that Terri was right. This was the right man. He stepped up to him and held out the Spear to his hands.

  “You can not be serious.” Firth said in disbelief.

  “Oh yes, I can.”

  “I’m not a soldier. I’ve never fought in a battle before.”

  “True, but at this point academic.” Kenner continued.

  “The only thing I know is politics.” Firth said, sounding desperate.

  “Let the soldiers and sailors do the fighting.” The soldier said to him.

  “He’s right.” Terri added. “What they need more than anything else now is to see someone holding the Spear and leading them on. If there is any fighting for you to do, let the Spear do what it wants and let nature take its course.”

  Firth took the Spear in his hands and in mere seconds, his whole demeanor changed. The frightened boy disappeared and something far more confident and stronger took his place.

  “Now get your ass on one of those boats.” Kenner told him.

  He looked at Kenner with a steely eyed will that impressed even Terri.

  “They’re called ships.” He said proudly and then ran in the direction of the largest vessel.

  Kenner then turned his attention back to Shorn.

  “Now about getting us off this damn island.” He said to him.

  “My ship is ready and waiting for your orders.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Leyews paced nervously in front of the face in the blue flames.

  “Why so worried, Doctor?” The face asked him.

  “I have just received news that General Krypt is still alive.”

  “Of course he is.” The face said in its familiar icy tone. “You didn’t really think five hundred Wolfen led by one officer would be able to fulfill such a mission, did you?”

  “But you said…”

  “I said the Wolfen would isolate and surround Krypt. I never said that they would actually succeed.”

  “Master, I don’t understand.”

  “You’re not meant to understand.” The face said in an ever colder tone. “It is merely your place to follow my orders. Now, I believe it is time for you to attend to your King.”

  “Would it now be wise for the King to die now, Master?”

  The face laughed.

  “This is why you could never rule, my servant. You have no mind for anything more than being told what to do.”

  “But surely…”

  “I need the King alive!” He said sternly. “I need him ineffective, but alive nonetheless.”

  The blue flame began to fade slightly and the face began to disappear.

  “Stay the course.” The face said to Leyews, its voice beginning to sound more distant. “And do nothing without my command.”

  Leyews bowed before his master; but when the face had gone, he wondered if his master’s plans were as clever as he thought they once were.

  Chapter Thirty One

  When Tulles awoke from having passed out, the first thing that came into focus was Kenner standing over him. Remembering the events of the night before, he again tried to slither away on his back away from the Lord of the Black Sword. Kenner stabbed at the wooden planks underneath him and he stopped.

  “My Lord,” He began to plead.

  “Shut up and listen.” Kenner interrupted him. “I’ve discovered some interesting things about this sword in the last couple of years. One thing I’ve learned is that if I place the blade next to someone’s head, like it’s next to yours now, it has an interesting effect. Apparently, the person lying on the ground like a snake…like you are now will tell the truth no matter what question, however embarrassing or ridiculous I ask them. Allow me to demonstrate. Have you ever had sex with a woman?”

  “Yes.” Tulles was surprised to hear himself answer.

  “Have you ever had sex with a man?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow! That is interesting. Did you ever have fantasies about farm animals?”

  “No.”

  “That’s a shame. I really was hoping you’d say yes.”

  Kenner then knelt closer to Tulles.

  “Now listen to me very carefully,” he told him. “Right now, you’re on a ship in the middle of the ocean and it’s at least a five mile swim to the mainland. I’m more than willing to let you live, and after I’m finished with you, Captain Shorn will put you in the longboat for you to row to shore. However, if you piss me off; and right now that’s very easy for you to do, I will toss you overboard. Captain Shorn says that if you’re a fast swimmer there is a chance…a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless that you can reach the shore before the sharks eat you. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  “Don’t call me ‘my Lord’. I hate that.”

  “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  “For once, we agree. Now, you don’t seem anywhere near clever enough to have come up with that plan to take over Sheyron on your own. Whose plan was it?”

  Tulles didn’t want to answer, but felt compelled.

  “It was Lord Edum’s plan. He had the help of members of the ‘Shoes’ faction.”

  “Where did they get the money to hire the mercenaries?”

  “From the temples.”

  Kenner then looked at Captain Shorn.

  “The temples require that their members pay ten percent of their earnings in order to remain members and stay in the good graces of the Lady.” Shorn told him. “They pay no taxes, so many of the temples and their priests grow rich and fat off the earnings of ordinary citizens.”

  “We serve the will of the Lady!” Tulles complained. “It is only right that we should have to pay no taxes to a worldly nation.”

  “Shut up!” Kenner barked at him. “How many others were included in the plot?”

  Tulles began listing names for several minutes until Kenner told him to stop.

  “That’s half the council.” Shorn told Kenner.

  “Did Edum come up with this plan on his own or did he have help?”

  For a moment, Tulles said nothing. Kenner noticed that he looked struggling as if trying to resist. His answer should have been automatic.

  “Tell me!” He barked at him.

  Tulles continued to resist and looked to be in pain; but then he spat out the name, “Bleylock!”

  There was something about the name that caused Kenner a momentary sensation of nausea and pain. He noticed Shela, lying behind Tulles shutter a little and growl.

  “That’s impossible.” Shorn said. “Bleylock was the name of the last of the Dark Lords cast down in the Dark Times.”

  Kenner noticed the sensation again.

  “Can we not say that name anymore?” He asked Shorn.

  “Fine by me. The name makes my bones ache.”

  Kenner then turned his attention to Tulles.

  “Alright, get your ass off of the deck and get to the boat. If I hear one more word of your preaching, you go swimming.”

  Two of Shorn’s deck hands lifted the priest off of the deck and then began pulling him toward to the longbo
at.

  “It can’t be.” Shorn said in a frightened voice. “The last Dark Lord was cast into the pit by the Weapons Masters hundreds of years ago. It’s impossible for him to have survived all these centuries.”

  “Did you notice something?” Kenner asked him.

  “What?”

  “For a moment, he was able to resist the power of the Sword. That’s supposed to be impossible too.”

  “But the Dark Lords were just men. They had evil powers, but no man or woman is more powerful than death.”

  “One of the things I’m learning is that nothing’s impossible.” Kenner told him.

  Terri had been given some clothing and a pair of boots from one of the deck hands who was similar to her size. Although they still fit loosely, she at least was no longer in only the undergarments that went with her dress. She had the Bow slung across her shoulders and vowed to herself that it would never leave her side again; no matter what the circumstances.

  Kenner wasn’t talking to her and it hurt her. Every now and then, he would pass her on the deck and not even look at her face. He didn’t seem angry, but she could tell that his attitude had changed. There was no look of affection or friendship in the rare times she saw his eyes. They shared the same cabin as they did on the journey from the Blackwoods, but he hadn’t come in the night before and he was absent from dinner with the Captain. When they passed each other on the decks he didn’t say a single word to her. That night, alone in her cabin she consoled herself with half a barrel of ale and a cigar from the boxes given to her by Kayla.

  For seven days, the Golden Serpent sailed east from Sheyron. The huge city of Korsh disappeared after the third day and in the distance only rough shore and swamps could be seen from the ship. On the fourth day, they passed by the beach of Tenav; sight of one of the fiercest battles from The Great War. Throughout the voyage, Kenner paced the decks quietly and at night, he sat at the stern by himself. Food and drink were brought to him and he always accepted it with a polite smile, but never actually spoke to anyone.

  The whole time he was quietly contemplating and worrying about the future in front of him. What am I supposed to do now, he wondered? Is it really my ‘destiny’ to lead an army and wage a war of conquest as Faraday had? Shadow had told me that “Destiny is a choice”; but I don’t seem to have very many choices. Everything that is happening is pushing me towards a destiny I don’t want and I can’t see any way of staying away from it. Yes, I could have said no to Terri and stayed home. But what of my friend, Krall? He has the Silver Axe, but the whole world is likely hunting him. Should I abandon him to his fate? And what if the Silver Axe falls into the hands of King Melkur or Edum? What would they do with it? What would happen if a weapon like that fell into the hands of evil? And why does it have to fall to me to be the one to keep it out of such hands?

  On the night of the fourth day, he was sitting at the stern and staring up at the stars. The air was cool, but not cold, the sea splashed under the ship and the wind made a kind of music with the billowing sails. He noticed a taste in the air that he hadn’t known on land. It was a salty and sweet flavor and every now and then some spray from the ocean would send a gentle mist over his face. He was staring at the stars hoping to see the shooting star he had seen so long ago on his way from Kallesh; the one that seemed to tell him that everything would turn out the way it was supposed to. It was then that he noticed the presence of Shadow close to him. He looked over in her direction and saw her bathed in a silver light, not unlike the light from the Blackwoods.

  “It’s about time you showed up.” He said to her.

  “It’s not easy to keep up with you when you’re on the move.” She replied.

  He laughed a little and then looked up at the stars again. Not wanting to, but feeling like he had to, he asked her a painful question.

  “Is there any way you could have warned me of what was to happen back there?” He asked her.

  He felt her come closer to him.

  “We knew things were moving in that direction,” She answered him sadly. “But we cannot predict the exact future.”

  “I thought not.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he then saw appear to sit next to him.

  “I’m sensing some guilt on your part.” She said to him.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the sea air.

  “I failed to stop it again.”

  “Stop what?”

  “The battle, the massacre; I could have stopped it all.”

  “Like you could have stopped the forest from being harmed?”

  “Damn right!” He said, his voice cracking a little.

  He pulled the Sword from its scabbard and looked at it sorely.

  “What the good of having this thing if I can’t stop evil from happening?” He asked nearly crying.

  “Evil is going to happen whether you like it or not. No weapon of any make can stop that.”

  “But if I hadn’t gone to bed, none of it would have ever happened. The Admiral…all those people would still be alive.”

  “Perhaps, but what would have happened if you hadn’t gone to Sheyron at all?”

  He looked at her image and thought for a moment. What would have happened if I hadn’t gone to Sheyron?

  “Think about it. Time doesn’t stop in a place simply because you’re not there.” She continued. “That plot had been forming for years and was going to happen whether you were there or not.”

  “But I was there! I could have saved them!”

  “There you go again thinking you are more powerful than all the thoughts, plans and wills of others. It is arrogance to think that the sun rises and sets around you alone.”

  He then found himself staring at the blade of the Sword. It was so smooth and like glass, the stars reflected on the blade.

  “The Sword is only a tool.” Shadow said. “It is a great tool, yes; but ultimately it is the hand of a simple and fallible man that wields it. It makes you physically stronger and faster and can make you do things that you would have never thought possible; but it doesn’t change the man.”

  “I’ve felt more confident when I wield it.”

  “That’s not the Sword.” She said sternly. “It is what’s inside you and the moment you face that brings what is best or worst out of you.”

  And after that, she disappeared.

  Just after dawn the next day, they passed the ruins of what was once the great city of Breian. They could still the remnants of Turin’s fleet in the harbor and in the distance could still see some of its tall towers. Most of it was overgrown by dense forest and instead of the sounds of a lively city; they heard the sounds of strange animals and birds coming from the trees and bushes.

  Terri found Captain Shorn standing on the deck and looking towards heavy clouds that seemed to wrap around the sea, but not directly overhead. He could see lightning flashing and heard the soft booming of distant thunder.

  “You look worried.” She said to him.

  “Not worried,” He replied, “Just a little spooked.”

  “Why’s that?” She asked with a little laughed.

  “See that storm out there?” He asked pointing to the clouds.

  “I don’t think I could miss it.”

  “We should have passed right through the teeth of it three days ago.”

  “I guess we’ve been lucky.”

  “That storm has gone completely around us. And did you notice how smooth the sea has been for these full five days?”

  “It’s been like glass.”

  “Aye and the wind has been perfect as well. You know how many times I’ve seen it like this for five whole days and with perfect wind in our sails in my forty years at sea?”

  “How many?”

  Her looked at her grimly and said, “Never.”

  Terri looked over her shoulder at Kenner who looked as if looking at the same storm.

  “Must be the Sword.” She said.

  “Maybe,” the Captain answ
ered. “But if so, it must have the power of the Lady herself.”

  The night of the sixth night, Terri finally found the courage to face Kenner. She hadn’t been afraid of anyone in a very long time. Even when near her own death just a few days earlier had she really been afraid, but at that moment she was terrified. It reminded her of when she was a girl on the farm and having to face her father when she’d done wrong.

  She stepped up to him and for the first time since the palace, she noticed his eyes look at her. Again, he didn’t look angry, but like her father had so many times before the Army, he looked disappointed.

  “So are you going to ignore me the whole way to Merz?” She asked him in a joking tone. She tried a little laugh, but it didn’t sound honest.

  “We need to talk about your drinking.” He finally said.

  She suddenly felt angry. A painful rage began to grow inside of her, like a fire starting to grow out of control.

  “Don’t start.” She said, restraining from yelling.

  “How drunk were you that you were helpless against those soldiers? And what about the night before when you had to be carried back to your room?”

  She then pointed at him angrily

  “If you want to remain friends, you will not say another word on this subject.”

  “I am your friend! I care about you! But you almost got yourself killed…”

  “Enough!” She shouted. “You have no right to lecture me about anything. You have no idea what I’ve been through or what I’ve faced over these past two years.”

  “Then tell me damn it!” He said standing. “Help me to understand so I can help you!”

  “Don’t give me those honey words! ‘You’re my friend’…’I care about you’…I’ve heard that all before! You’re just like every other man in this world only caring about women enough to get what they want!”

  “You know that’s not true!”

  “Damn you and your perfect world!”

  She stormed away from him and to her cabin. Inside, she immediately poured herself a cup of ale and then another. Before long, she was starting to feel comfortably numb and lost track of time and how many drinks she’d had. The voices started coming back, the screams the cries and the faces of the dead coming back to haunt her. There was a new face too. Janna stared at her from her memories with the same eyes she saw darken as she died. Each drink numbed some of the pain, but the sounds and images didn’t go away. And then she heard the whispering again. “Murderer…murderer…”