The Spirit of The Warrior: The Axton Empire book 1

by Ryan Copeland

  “Blessings of the Father!” Tygahl exclaimed, “Raze our home to the ground? What madness has come over the King!?”

  “I cannot know what has come over the King’s mind, Master Rogers. Though I know what has come over mine.”

  A hush fell over the crowd. Each of the villagers looked to each other with fear etching on to their bright fair faces. “What will you have us do, sir?” Tygahl asked at last, cutting through the impenetrable stillness.

  Tiberius beheld each of the faces around him. Half of them appeared to be scared and were prepared to take their families and flee. Though wherever they could possibly go would offer no safe haven against the oncoming storm of death that was bearing down on them. The other half looked determined and brave, ready to fight and die to defend their homes against a ruthless would-be tyrant. The only curious sight amongst the assembled people was Catherine and her brethren, who appeared to remain impassive.

  “When we arrived here six weeks ago, men from the King’s army were set against wiping your homes from the earth. They came with fire, and they came with arrows, and they came with an unquenchable anger and determination to see you all dead. I do not know why the King has set this place in his sights, but the fact is he has. General Samborn has said they will leave this village in peace if I and my fellow Imperials leave, and I say that his words are a lie. They will raze this land and occupy it for their own intent.”

  Silence heavier than an anvil penetrated the assembled. Even their breaths were muted in their throats. Tiberius continued to look into their bright eyes before resolve overtook him. “Well I say to you, I will not abandon you. A madman who wields greater power than he can imagine has come to your doorstep. And by my power, I will repel him or die trying!”

  Small reassuring smiles came across the group who began speaking on what to do. Others continued to look on in fear. “What are your thoughts, Lady Stonefoot?” Michael asked, cutting through the small chatter.

  “We were sent here by the Father for a purpose that was unknown to us,” she said, smiling. “And now it is known. We will fight and defend these people, for why else would he lead us out of our homes if not to fulfill his will?”

  “Why do you think the King has come for our homes?” Michelle asked from behind the massive Tygahl.

  “Your village is at the footsteps of the Ice Steps. It is no coincidence that he has come to this place as Tiberius and his companions have. He means to hold the path leading to the Land Beyond, and eventually go there himself.”

  “But what can he possibly gain from venturing there?” Michelle asked again. “It is a place of death and ice. There is nothing there for anyone. Why would you seek that place at all Master Tiberius?”

  Tiberius and the dwarf woman’s eyes met, and he nodded in understanding. He turned to Michelle, and said, “I cannot speak to our intent for crossing into the Land Beyond. I was bid on this quest by Emperor Axton himself, and am sworn to secrecy of our intent. But I will say that if King White is seeking the same goals as I, then it is a most dire situation.” He turned and faced the assembled villagers, “I must confess that I have not the words to adequately comfort you. I have been a Ranger of the Axton Empire for nearly twenty years and have resigned myself to the knowledge that I may fall in battle one day. It is our duty to fight and die so that all people who dwell in this realm will never know war or hardship or suffering. Yet, at this moment, I feel as though I have failed you.”

  “Amongst us, there are only fifteen true warriors who have known war and death. The rest of you have lived in peace and prosperity, far away from the toils of conflict. And that is how it should be! Whatever evil has poisoned the mind of the King, and has driven him to war, is known only to the gods.”

  “If you all choose to take your families and leave, I will not stop you. I possess no lordship over you, and even if I did, I would not order you to stay. That is not the way of this empire, the way of a free society. One is not controlled by their monarchs for their own purposes but allowed to thrive and live their lives as they see fit!”

  He paused for many moments, recalling the faces of his rangers and his father. “Every man, woman, child, and dwarf who dwell here are free. Free to choose their own paths and perils. Free to make their own destiny. Well I say to you all, my destiny and my free will compel me to stay and fight. Though I may be a small stone against the tide, I will break the ocean of evil that travels here nonetheless!”

  With a quick motion, he unsheathed his sword and held it aloft. “I carry the sword of Luke Alexander Axton himself! And with his sword, and with all my might and skill, I will meet the King’s men in the field, and we will show him and all the free people of White that the empire has not abandoned them! This I swear to you on my honor. Now, will you flee into danger and uncertainty, or stay and defend your homes against the cowards in their white armor!?”

  A great cheer went up over the crowd. All the assembled who saw his sword and heard the conviction of his words were shaken out of their fears and driven to action. Though they might fall and be wiped from all memory, they would take as many of the King’s thugs with them as they could.

  He re-sheathed his sword, and the crowd dispersed at once. Tygahl and Shayla began issuing orders to the villagers to start reinforcing the walls and gates. Constance and her rangers spread into the woods and hills beyond the field to search for any sign of the approaching army. Michelle flew to the children and their families, bidding them gather their food and make for the inn. Tiberius stood in place watching all this, pride growing inside of him.

  “Nice speech,” Michael whispered to him, breaking him out of his contemplations and laughing hard.

  “I’m not one for speeches, my friend,” he said with a pat on the Mage’s shoulders. “But every now and then, I pull one out of me.”

  Tiberius turned to the dwarves, who appeared to not have moved. Instead, each of them standing still as stones, smiles etched into their bearded faces. “I hope your Father is with us in our endeavors,” he said to Catherine.

  “The Father has led us since the sun rose on the world. So too shall he lead us into the sunset. But to you and Michael, I must give counsel,” she said, her smile abandoning her face. “We dwarves can feel things in motion around us. Things that would like to remain hidden are revealed to us. I fear this oncoming assault will bring more than just men and horses. Something evil and powerful rides with the King’s men. Something that has not been contested against in nigh on five hundred years. And this thing is hungry, not just for us, but for what lies beyond the ice.”

  “What is it?” Michael asked a deep concern in his voice.

  “What it is, we do not know,” Bruce said. “But you must steel yourselves nonetheless; for before this night is over, the very ground upon which we stand will shake with wrath never before seen in this realm. Beware.”

  Catherine turned to her men, and after a few quick words in their language, they hurried off to help throughout the village. Bruce beckoned Michael to join him once again as if part of their usual morning. Catherine joined Tiberius where Michael had just stood and watched the pair dissolve into the woods.

  “You’re afraid for the boy,” Catherine said after they had departed.

  “I’m afraid for all of us, Lady Stonefoot,” Tiberius admitted. “Though my Rangers and I are resigned to a glorious death, it is not meant for these people. And Michael… Well, after the many miles and misadventures we have gone through, I cannot bear the thought of him falling to such unwanted evil and destruction that now threatens us. He has too much life left to live.”

  She smiled up at the Ranger and said, “Were you not his age the first time you rode into battle?” Tiberius looked down at her, wondering how she could possibly know when he had first fought in battle.

  She smiled at him and placed a rough hand upon his arm. “The boy is stronger than you know. He has learned much in such a short amount of time. Tonight, though, he will truly be put to the test, for the e
vil that rides with the King’s men has come for him.”

  “The only thing that could contest Michael would be another mage, and so far, he seems to be the only one with the power to wield magic in the empire.”

  “Aye,” she replied. “Though I fear it is no mage that comes hither, yet something of equal power and will. I sense that whatever has cut off the use of magic to the rest of the Magi knows there is one still capable of doing so. And against him, it will seek out and rage.”

  “Then ascend the steps themselves and seek the outpost as we were intended to do. What has come against us means to seize all of magic themselves, don’t they?”

  “Aye. That they do.”

  Tiberius stared at her, searching for any clue in her hardened face. “You do not need to use your powers on me, King’s Son,” she said with a chuckle. “You know my words are true.”

  “My apologies, Catherine. I too had begun to feel the timing of White’s insurrection was more than happenstance to coincide with our quest. Your words merely confirmed this suspicion of mine.”

  “Ever since you arrived in our village, we have felt the whispers of the Father in our minds. I do not know how else to explain it more simply than that,” she replied. “Just call it a feeling.” And with that, she departed Tiberius’s company to see to her dwarf’s work.

  The rest of the day flew by in a flurry of activity. The walls and gates were reinforced with trunks from large and ancient oak trees hewn from the nearby forest. The rangers reported back every few hours with no new updates, save for the unnatural stillness that now seemed to seep into the surrounding lands. The villagers began to fletch more arrows for their archers and fashioning crude leather armor and heavy wooden shields.

  Deep in the fields beyond, the dwarves erected long massive barriers of spiked wood and logs and had begun digging vast trenches at a quick pace. Five feet deep or more with small bundlings of wood here and there for a bonfire. They hoped these trenches would force the King’s men to abandon their horses and navigate the winding maze of ditches, making them an easier target. The villagers who sat upon the village walls' ramparts marveled at the speed and strength that the dwarfs worked. Especially since they did all of their work tirelessly and still fully laden in the heavy iron armor of their people.

  Tiberius walked to and fro throughout the village, inspecting the defenses and stopping here and there to speak to the villagers he and Shayla had spent instructing. In them, he found a renewed sense of purpose and resolve. Such was their rekindled spirit to fight and defend their homes that they, in turn, recruited several of the older boys in their community to come to their aid, swelling their numbers to near three hundred and fifty men.

  A small measure of worry crept into his spirit at the thought of such young untrained boys possibly entering the fray. Yet he could not deny them their desires. This was their home, after all, and if they were roused out of fear into action at its defense, he would not raise an objection.

  Shayla spent her time with Tygahl, trying to memorize all the terrain around the village for avenues of approach the enemy was sure to take. In her mind, she already imagined the snowy fields filled with the enemy. Her spirit and heart began to stir at the challenge of battle to come. Her long life of fighting had conditioned her to expect and prepare for the inevitable with a cold calculation. The countless deaths she had seen in her time had hardened her to the taking of life. Yet now, on the eve of battle, she felt a sense of eagerness to enter the fray. Maybe it was that she was fighting for the noblest of causes in defense of the defenseless. The thought brought a smile to her tanned olive lips as she refocused her mind on the task before her.

  In the woods, Michael spent his time practicing his wand work under Bruce’s careful eye. Though he was better adapted to the power he now wielded, and his aptitude to conjuring magic had improved, a growing concern over the unseen force was beginning to stir inside him. Yet every time he tried to broach the subject with the Shaman, he was rebuffed and returned to his practice.

  Michael knew Bruce meant well in his counsel to refocus on his training, but for all his skill and his knowledge, he was still after all, a child of sixteen. Despite his youth, Michael had begun to see the world around him in a different and somewhat foreign way. The selfishness of youth was still there, but it had begun to grow quiet. He had started to realize that the world was changing around him. That the time for boyhood desires and impetuousness would have to be cast aside. That it was time to grow up and become a man of the empire.

  The sun was starting to set when they returned to the others from their training; Michael returning to his companions while Bruce returned to his fellow dwarves for their daily prayers and communes to the Father. Fresh snow was beginning to fall in small specks. With the sun's last rays, Tiberius and his companions could see dark grey clouds massing beyond the field and forests, a sign of a pending snowstorm sure to follow. The stars beyond the dusky night sky were not shining as they had for so many nights before, instead residing behind a thick unnatural fog that hung just above the trees.

  “This is ill weather that comes swiftly upon us,” Shayla said as she ran her slender fingers through her straight black hair. “Either by the will of nature or the will of our enemy. For if I were them, I would use this storm as a sign to attack.”

  Tiberius began to pull on his pipe, his mind focusing on the terrain before him. “As would I. My rangers reported no sign of the enemy, yet these clouds and fog could hasten their arrival. Let us pray they will not come until my father arrives. Though if our luck is any indication, our prayers will be in vain.”

  “You two are really are putting a damper on things,” Michael replied with a shudder. “Come, let's get inside for some warmth.”

  The three companions retreated to the rangers’ barracks, followed soon after by Tygahl. They dug into meals that had been set for them at the rangers’ massive table, not daring share their fears of what the weather would bring. Instead, they talked loud and joyfully of long-ago battles and histories of their realm. All at once, silence fell on their group. Throughout their dinner, they each had willfully chosen to ignore the discussion that needed to happen. Yet now, neither of the four dared break it, hoping to live in the joyful memories they had shared just a few moments before. Finally, it was Tygahl, the retired berserker, who broke the quiet.

  “If they are to attack, it will surely be tonight,” he said heavily. “They will not wait for the clear skies and storms to pass. These are true north men who will march to meet us. They will want to fight in the cold where they feel the strongest.”

  “Aye, that is what they will do,” Tiberius agreed. “But we are as well defended as we can be. It will be our will or theirs that wins the day.”

  “Beg your pardon, Master Rogers, but will you join us in the field?” Michael asked.

  “You will be nowhere near the field,” Tiberius cut in. “I know you have grown strong and learned much, but we need you here in the village. Whatever evil that rides with the soldiers will be drawn to you, and if you are amongst us, I cannot keep you protected.”

  “Begging your pardon, but after all I have learned from Master Stonehelm, I can protect myself,” he replied.

  “That may be true, but I need to keep you away from the fray as long as possible,” Tiberius explained. “The King’s men come with fury and madness upon them, and the evil that rides with them has come for you. I must keep you concealed as long as possible.”

  “But where else would I be safest than with you, sir?” Michael asked in protest. “I would be ashamed if I did not stand and fight for the defense of these people.”

  “You had best heed his counsel, Michael,” Shayla said. “No shame will be wrought on you as you are simply following our leader's command. Furthermore, when the fighting starts it will be furious and confusing. You must stay here where you can be of greater use and better guarded.”

  “Then I am to cower in here like the women and children? Is that what
my friends think I am? A coward!?”

  “No, we do not,” Tiberius replied. “You were not a coward when you faced down the Revenant, and you were not a coward when you defeated the soldiers on our arrival here. But we must conceal you from the true power that comes with White’s men. Do not fear. Before this night is through, I have a feeling you will be called to the defense of these people.”

  Michael hung his head dejectedly but conceded to his friend's counsel. Sensing his sadness, Tygahl clapped one of his mighty hands upon the young man’s back, causing him to jump. “And to answer your question, yes, I will be in the field. My time with my brothers and sister these many weeks has taught me much about the Father. I feel his will upon me too, and I will use it well.”

  He stood, and after cleaning the food from his beard, said, “Now, I must see to my people and to Michelle. I will meet you all outside after nightfall.” And with that, Tygahl departed, leaving the three companions alone.

  They sat for many moments in silence, each looking to one another to break the silence. “Do not be scared, Michael,” Tiberius said, breaking the tension. “If we fight tonight, then we will fight with all the strength that lies within us. And if we fall, then we fall in service of the empire.”

  “What would you have me do if not fight with my friends?” Michael asked sadly.

  “If it were up to me, I would have dispatched you back to the capital with all haste,” Tiberius admitted. “I wish more than anything else to keep you and Shayla safe from the conflict that is sure to come. Yet to tell either of you to do so would be in vain.”

  “You speak true,” Shayla cut in with a laugh. “Dragoons do not run from battle, and Mr. Deerborn is too hardheaded to know what’s good for him.”

  Tiberius chuckled. “As such, I wish for you to remain here and to stay sharp. Though I don’t know why I’m leading this defense at all. Your stubbornness and your magic alone would be enough to fell all the enemies in the world.”