The Black Sword Trilogy: The Four Nations

by VanMeter, Jeffery

  On the seventh day, the ship left the open ocean and started into the mouth of a river. Kenner noticed the water underneath turn from a deep blue to a muddy brownish red. Unfamiliar trees and colors that defied explanation came into view and strange sounds filled his ears. The trees, instead of tall and straight like the forest he knew, were shorter but with fuller and lusher vegetation. They were deeper green and had flowers of bright, vibrant colors he’d never known; deeper reds, blues that seemed as if alive and yellows that rivaled the sun in brilliance. The forest was so dense; Kenner could barely see more than a foot or two beyond the river. He saw thick vines swinging on their own, birds of sharp, contrasting color all over them. The noise of the forest was deafening. What sounded like thousands of different birds angrily arguing with each other and fighting filled his ears along with the calls of howls of animals he could only guess at.

  Suddenly he was reminded of his dream. This was the same kind of forest he’d seen; the same images and sounds. All that was missing were the strange man-like creatures and the massive temple.

  It was also a steamy hot that he’d never known before. The air was thick and heavy and it felt almost as if he was drinking the air around him when he breathed.

  For half the day, there was only one, large river traveling a mostly straight path. Then one river seemed to branch off from it and then another. By sundown, they had passed one inlet to a river or stream after another. The water was still without even a ripple, but the ship still moved, pushed along by a gentle breeze that brought some relief from the stifling heat.

  Kenner then noticed that, despite the heat, the Captain and crew were all wearing the sleeves of their shirts all the way down and all had the bottoms of their trousers tied closed around their boots. They had also put on wide brimmed hats with what looked like netting around their faces and necks. Kenner’s armor jumped on to him and he was suddenly alert as if expecting a battle.

  “Best do like the others, Terri.” The Captain said to her.

  “Why?”

  She then heard a buzzing noise, like bees but quieter coming from down river.

  “And you better put this on.” He said as if warning her and handing her a hat.

  In the waning light, she could just barely see a wisp of a dark, but thin cloud moving toward the ship. Within moments the cloud was on top of them and the buzzing sound was all around them. She then felt bugs all over her face, neck and in her hair, followed by light stings that quickly began to itch. Kenner’s face was being attacked in the same way; along with his hands which were uncovered.

  “What the hell?” Kenner exclaimed.

  “Welcome to the Tree of Life.” Shorn said.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  General Krypt awoke on his cot with the wind whipping at his tent. He ached all over and his wounds although bandaged were burning. He looked to the side of his cot and saw an unfamiliar man dressed as an archer sitting next to him.

  “What happened?” He groaned.

  The man stood up and nearly jumped out of his tent.

  “He wasn’t very helpful.” Krypt then mumbled to himself.

  Seconds later a familiar large, muscular man entered the tent, but Krypt couldn’t believe who he thought he saw.

  “That’s impossible.” Krypt gasped.

  “I’m afraid not, old friend.” General Krall answered him.

  “What are you doing here?” Krypt asked him.

  “What kind of gratitude is that? I just saved your life.”

  Still very surprised and confused, Krypt couldn’t help the smile growing on his face. He started to try and raise himself out of the cot.

  “You get out of that cot and I’ll put a knot on the back of your head.” Krall teased him. He then sat down next to Krypt.

  Krypt kept staring at him; still not being able to believe the sight in front of his eyes. General Krall was standing next to him; his teacher and mentor for the previous two years of the war; the man who had disappeared from the world, or so he had thought.

  Krall smiled and shook his head.

  “Letting yourself become isolated from the rest of your cavalry and almost devoured by Wolfen? I thought I taught you better than that.”

  “That was before you disappeared.”

  Krall looked away for a moment as if to another country.

  “Yes, well I am sorry for that. It was the only way at the time that I could save my life and preserve the future of the army.”

  Krypt then felt confused.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “The plot I discovered was to assassinate me, assassinate you and then put that idiot Fraust at the head of the Grand Army. The army would then be wiped out and Walechia defenseless to an enemy that would destroy everything in its path.”

  “What about the other armies under General’s Font and Sebring?”

  “Until two months ago, they were walking into a trap. They were moving toward Parabas under the false information that there was a Masallan army was moving through the pass to invade from the east.”

  “In winter?”

  “Our King has never been in the mountains in winter, so he wouldn’t have known that an army moving through the pass in the cold and snow was all but impossible. He also didn’t know that there was an army of fifty thousand Wolfen moving behind his armies that would have wiped them out. Neither Font or Abseel knew that either until I told them.”

  “Where are they now?”

  Krall then smiled confidently.

  “They’re on their way south to join us.”

  Krypt nearly jumped out of his cot, but the searing pain in his wounds and bones stopped him and he fell back.

  “Won’t try that again, will you?” Krall said to him.

  Krypt laughed.

  “So you didn’t take the Silver Axe to Masallah.” He said to Krall.

  “No,” Krall answered more seriously. “I let that rumor go in order to keep the King’s assassins off of my trail.”

  “What about Terri?” Krypt asked, remembering her mission. “I sent her to find Kenner and then take him to Masallah looking for you.”

  Krall than looked to the ground and Krypt thought he had a guilty expression.

  “Terri already knew that I didn’t go to Masallah.”

  “What?”

  “She knew of my plan before I even went to Kallesh to take the Axe.”

  “Then if she found Kenner, where is she taking him?”

  “She’s taking him to Masallah, but not for the reason he thinks.”

  Krypt suddenly felt uncomfortable and disturbed.

  “You sent her to lie to him?”

  “When he learns the truth, he’ll understand,” Krypt answered quickly, but Krypt could still tell he didn’t feel right about what he was doing.

  “Everything you’ve told me about this man says to me that…”

  “He won’t like it at first. That is true. But once he sees the larger picture, he’ll understand.”

  Krypt thought for a moment and couldn’t shake his misgivings. He felt there was something very dishonest about what Krall was doing and he’d never known him to be a liar.

  “This doesn’t sound right.” He said to Krall.

  “This is war,” Krall answered. “The greatest immorality of war is war itself. The only moral thing to do is get it over as quickly as possible.”

  Edum sat quietly in his cell wondering what had gone wrong. The revolution had failed. Within only a few days, his army had been wiped out and the Sheyron forces had not joined his cause as he had been promised. The soldiers who weren’t killed fled the city, taking the money they’d been paid with them. The citizens whom he’d been promised would rise up with him instead rose against him. They were outside the prison walls screaming and cursing at him; burning images of his face and body. In each flame he sought some hint of his master; the one who had promised him glory and a righteous victory over his enemies. But there was none. He was alone in the world and
now the most hated man in Sheyron. Worse than that, he would soon face judgment at the hands of his own son.

  The heavy, iron door of the cell flew open and two soldiers rushed in and dragged him out of the tiny room. Pulled out of the prison in the center of Korsh, he was then dragged face up across the wide courtyard in front of the public courthouse. His hands and feet were bound and he was dragged across the ground. His already tattered clothes were torn away from him in shreds and his bare skin scraped against the gravel. The people continued to scream and curse at him; all the while tossing rotten food, dead animals and even excrement on him. With his hands and his feet bound, he was carried up the steps of the courthouse. His body bounced hard against each step and he felt the agonizing pain of each bone breaking. He then passed under the two statues of Admirals Kye and Rainer. They had been designed with their heads looking down as if passing judgment on all those who entered the court.

  He was then dragged into the courtroom, turned over and forced to kneel before the judge, his own son. His broken bones screamed in pain and he moaned in agony.

  He saw that Firth had a hard and hateful expression. His eyes were red and his whole face shook. He held the Golden Spear in his hand and Edum saw his fists shake as it closed around the shaft of the Spear.

  “Guilty.” Firth hissed. The crowd inside the courtroom howled in angry appreciation.

  Suddenly Edum felt incensed and angry.

  “What?” He yelled. “What about a fair trial? Where is my defense?”

  “Where was the trial of those you slaughtered? Where was their defense?”

  “I am a citizen of Sheyron. I claim the rights…”

  “The same rights you denied your victims?”

  “They were traitors!”

  The crowd booed and hollered curses at him.

  “They were enemies of the Lady! They needed to be cleansed…”

  “They were citizens of Sheyron and denied the rights you try to claim now.”

  “So this is your answer? How many more citizens will you find guilty without trial?”

  “Only one…father.”

  Firth then gritted his teeth in hate and his jaws shook in rage.

  “You will be taken from this place like the traitors of old. You will be sailed to the deepest place in the sea, bound in iron chains and cast overboard where you will be crushed by the weight of the ocean.”

  A desperate madness then swept over Edum.

  “Infidel! Heretic!” He screamed. “You will all be purified! You will all be punished!”

  Firth leaned back in his chair and he felt a kind of lustful, vengeful pleasure at seeing his father having fallen so low and now being carried away to his fate. The Golden Spear glowed a soft white and hummed quietly.

  Chapter Thirty Three

  After a long, hot night of sailing the river, the Golden Serpent entered at dawn a large, open lake that was miles across and so long, the end of it couldn’t be seen when they entered. The heavy air eased and cooled a little. Large birds floated overhead and the mosquitos that had tormented them throughout the night all but disappeared. The Captain and his crew were relieved and happier as they knew their journey was almost over.

  Soon they would be arriving at the Masallan port of Geedings. They would spend a night of revelry in its public houses and in the company of its women, resupply and then head back to Sheyron to face whatever awaited them there.

  It had been another long night for Kenner. He spent the night on the stern directing the winds and the flow of the river with the Sword. The buzzing and stinging insects did not respect the weapon and tormented him until dawn. He could feel welts on his face and his hands and they itched and burned. He’d only slept a little and was nearly exhausted.

  And there was something disturbing him ever since leaving Sheyron. He had a feeling that he was going a direction that he shouldn’t be. Somehow, he felt he was headed away from where he needed to be going.

  In addition, there was something about Terri that now made him uncomfortable. At first, he thought that it might be simply his concern about her drinking. But there seemed more than that which he couldn’t trust. They had spoken to each other a little during the long night and once again as friends. But since leaving Sheyron, he’d had the feeling that she was hiding something from him and each day on their journey, the sensation grew stronger. He even felt like putting the Sword next to her head as he’d done with Tulles; but he had no idea what kind of questions to ask her.

  Just before noon, he noticed her leave the cabin. He noticed that she hadn’t drunk in front of him; however, she was clearly “hung over” now. Her eyes looked bleary and she hung her head slightly as if in pain. He was worried about her and wanted to say something to move her. But she had reacted so angrily to his previous attempt, he was afraid to raise the subject again. He then found himself chuckling at the very thought of being afraid of anyone. He’d feared no one since the death of his father.

  After climbing out of her bunk in the cabin, Terri felt heavier and older. Her head ached and her eyes stung. Also, she had welts from the bites of the mosquitos the night before and they still itched terribly. She’d spent most of the evening on the deck with Kenner and everything again seemed friendly between the two of them. But she was still angry at her for bringing up a forbidden subject. It was none of his business. He needed to leave her alone about it. She looked at him, still sitting on the stern. He had a concerned look at first, but he still smiled at her. They were friends again and that’s what mattered.

  By noon, the city of Lahkhert began coming into view and the crew yelled and hollered in delight in seeing it. It stretched along the shore much like Korsh but with much more modest buildings and houses and it was much smaller. Perhaps a hundred cities of Geedings could fit inside Korsh.

  As they came closer, something seemed very wrong.

  “What is it?” Captain Shorn asked Kenner seeing his concern.

  “I’m not sure.” He replied. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “You noticed it too?” Terri asked Kenner.

  “What do you feel?”

  “I don’t know. It’s like there’s no life coming from it. It feels more like a graveyard than a city.”

  Pulling closer to the dock, they all noticed that it was empty. No workers loading and offloading cargo and no sailors going back and forth. There were no voices from the docks or the town and nothing was moving. Only a small ship was moored to the dock and there appeared to be no life on it as well. When the ship pulled into the dock, two men left the ship to look for someone, anyone. They came back moments later in horror.

  “They’re all dead!” One of the men announced.

  “What do you mean?” The Captain asked.

  “The people; they’re all dead.”

  Kenner and Terri both got off the ship and began searching the streets and houses. There were bodies everywhere of men, women and children and everywhere was the putrid stench of death. It looked like there had been a battle as most of the men and women either had weapons in their hands or had weapons near them. All the streets they searched and looked upon all had the same scenes of corpses littering the streets, but upon closer examination, Kenner found it to be worse than a battle sight. The bodies were horribly mutilated, as if parts of them had been eaten.

  “Silther,” Terri almost whispered.

  “I thought they were extinct.” Kenner noted.

  “Just like you thought Wolfen and Battle Cats were all extinct?”

  “Where are their bodies?”

  “The Silther eat their dead.”

  As the afternoon, the crew and the Captain searched the docks and found plenty of untouched supplies in the stores and warehouses. Kenner noticed that several of Shorn’s men were loading supplies onto the smaller boat.

  “What’s that all about?” Kenner asked him.

  “I’m sorry sir, but this as far as the Golden Serpent goes.”

  “What’s that supposed
to mean?” Terri demanded.

  “I have no contract to trade with Masallah.” Shorn answered.

  “And if a ship bearing Sheyron sails were to go further up the river it would be bad.” Kenner added.

  “Aye, sir…very bad indeed.”

  The boat was much smaller than The Golden Serpent; barely enough room for Kenner, Terri, Shela and their supplies, including food and fresh water. Shorn had warned Kenner and Terri not to drink the water from the river as it wasn’t safe.

  “Did you find any food for my cat?” Kenner asked.

  “So long as she’s not too picky, there’s should be plenty for her as well.” Shorn told him.

  “How far is it to the next port?” Terri asked.

  “It’s six days to Circle Stone and you’ve got supplies at least for a month. You can always sell the supplies if you need some spending money. Masallans aren’t too keen on foreign currency and they don’t always give a fair exchange.”

  “Did you find any ale or wine?” Terri asked.

  “Sorry Miss, I found none.”

  She suddenly felt anxious and began looking over the docks.

  “Well, there’s got to be a tavern or public house somewhere.”

  “You’re not going to just take their liquor are you?” Kenner protested.

  “Don’t worry; I’ll leave a fair price. Can I borrow a couple of your men?” Terri asked Shorn.

  “Be my guest.” He answered and then she started to almost run toward the gang plank.

  “Don’t take too long.” Kenner called to her. “The crew are going to set fire to some of the buildings before we leave.”

  Terri waved at him in acknowledgment.

  “I did try sir,” Shorn said to Kenner.

  Kenner fished a gold coin out of his pocket and handed it to the Captain.