“Who are you? I mean, really?” To her eye, he seemed nothing more than an old man. But something in his voice and mannerisms was very familiar.
“As I said, I am Myhrren, though I expect that this is not what you are asking. If I am correct, you have had conversations with Valyn, the goddess of the elven people.”
“Yes. So?”
“So, Tovi and I have had similar conversations.”
He didn’t need to say any more. This was not a man. “You’re a god, like Valyn?”
The old man chortled. “I dare say that there are substantial differences. But, yes, in some ways we are alike.”
“Yes, Valyn did speak to me. And I am supposed to help out, although I’m not sure what she wants me to do. But she would never send me to fight a god or a demon.”
They reached the oasis and Myhrren gestured toward a tree. “Let us sit in the shade for a few moments. The air has grown still and the heat of the sun can be oppressive.” He settled in and retrieved his water skin, offering it to her. “Please, have a drink.”
As he gazed out into the desert, his voice changed from conversational to a softer, gentler tone. “These are dark times, Marzi. There will be death and loss. Neither you nor I can do anything to prevent it. But I will tell you this. You and Tovi can lessen it. So long as Dredwyn exists in this dimension, much sorrow, chaos, and annihilation will accompany him. Your brother can end his reign, bringing this war to a close. You, on the other hand, will be called upon to make peace once the demon is gone. Surely Valyn has told you this.”
“She said something like that, but she didn’t tell me exactly what I had to do.”
Myhrren chuckled. “Yes, yes, I know. She told you that you would know when the time comes.” He shook his head, the laugh softening to a smile. “Unfortunately, that is the same explanation that I gave Tovi. And until the time draws nearer, it is the best we can do.”
“But if you are gods, why don’t you know what’s going to happen?”
“Even the gods cannot be certain of the future. We can see more of what goes on here and now. And perhaps we have a greater understanding of cause and effect. But predictions about the future are plagued by the free will of beings such as you and your brother, not to mention the elves, humans, and ogres. People do as they will, and their actions have consequences, good and bad. As we get closer, the future becomes more certain. Until then, we must prepare for a broad range of possibilities.”
But something bothered Marzi about this explanation, about everything that was happening. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but if this Dredwyn is a god or a demon or something, why don’t the other gods fight him? After all, there are more of you than of him. You should be able to beat him.”
“Alas, I wish it were that simple, my child. This war must be fought by the races. A war among the gods would bring destruction unlike anything you could ever imagine.”
Marzi reached up and scratched her ear. “Why?”
“To answer that, I must first explain the nature of the gods. Given time constraints, I shall summarize. The gods, all of us, good and bad, are concentrated power. Forces within us rival those of even the most violent of stars. The death of a god, or even a strike from any one of us against each other, would release that power into the world and destroy all life, plant and animal. It would create a wasteland that would stand forever as a monument to the conflict. No, I am afraid that the solution to the problem is the forced banishment of Dredwyn, and it must be accomplished by someone other than a god.”
“By why Tovi?”
“Your brother is special, as are you. Both of you have already accomplished what might have seemed impossible before. Tovi has traveled over this entire realm speaking difficult words to the kraal chiefs. And you see for yourself, they are all here. He has fought beside Klunk and Kharla, saving lives in the process. He has bonded with a great spirit beast, River, it is called. The spirit chose him just as I chose him.” He paused and lowered his head.
“I will not strive to deceive you, Marzi. This is not without danger. We will help him as we can. Others will also come to his aid. But, in the end, he must face the burden alone. If he is successful, you will find it easier to bring peace. That is the best I can do for you.”
She wanted to scream but held her temper. “It’s not fair!”
He smiled sadly. “No, my child, it is not fair.”
Chapter 19: Crystal Sands
Marzi and Myhrren made their way back to the ogre camp as the sun neared the western horizon. The young Azyrean felt hopelessly conflicted. On one hand, the three races had come together to confront the approaching darkness. This had happened with far less suspicion and bickering than she had experienced trying to get the elves to speak with one another. And this gave her great hope.
On the other hand, a sense of dread and helplessness haunted her. She had seen the power of Dredwyn, or at least part of it, firsthand. She had witnessed the attacks of the human raiding parties. Her discussion with the captive human in the Quel’dethain Mountains had left her shocked—they were under the control of a god and obeyed his word even unto the certainty of death. How could this kind of army ever be defeated?
As they approached the ogre encampment, a lone figure stumbling out of the desert attracted her attention. An ogre, a young girl by the look of it, seemed barely able to remain on her feet. She struggled forward, tripping and falling several times. As she grew closer, Marzi could see a rivulet of blood streaming down the left side of her face.
Almost as one, the ogres broke into a run to meet the young girl. Marzi ran as well, her short legs pumping as fast as they could. The group converged, the new arrival fell face down in the sand. Klunk, the first to reach her, turned her over gently and wiped her face with a wet piece of cloth. “You are safe now. You are among us.”
The girl bolted upright and began screaming. “Dead. They are all dead.”
Klunk’s voice came out soothing—soft and slow. “Please, tell us. Who is dead?”
“My kraal. My mamaw. Everyone. The things, the humans, they came. They killed them all.”
◆◆◆
Arien and a female ogre that Marzi didn’t know sat beside the young girl. The elf applied a poultice while the ogre cleaned the patient. They alternately spoke in quiet voices. Klunk, Kharla, and what appeared to be kraal chiefs stood back along with Marzi and watched. Tovi sat on the ground in front of the group, transfixed by the activities.
Klunk moved to the girl’s side and knelt. From where Marzi stood, she could barely hear his voice. “Can you talk to us?”
The injured ogre nodded with a grimace and closed her teary eyes tightly.
“You said it was humans. How many of them came?”
“I don’t know. A lot.” The girl paused as though mentally counting. “Maybe ten or twelve.”
“Could you tell if they were looking for something?”
“They just came in and started hitting us with their swords and things. We didn’t have anything there but food. I ran away before they left. I don’t know whether they took anything or not.” She broke down crying, her hands covering her face.
Klunk stood and turned away, walking toward the opening of the tent, where Virgil stood waiting. The human stepped inside as he spoke but his voice floated out into the desert air. “It sounds like a random raiding party. But it makes no sense. A small group like that would have a purpose, like stealing weapons or disabling defenses that exist. To engage like they did simply for the purpose of killing women and children is pointless.”
Klunk glanced back over at the girl. “I don’t see a sense to any of this war.”
“Maybe not in your eyes. But the king has a purpose. Even back in Caravast, he doesn’t kill randomly. They murder and pillage but only when it gets them what they want.”
“Perhaps they are beyond reason.”
Klunk’s words struck a chord with Marzi. She joined the two inside the tent. “What you just said, Klunk. That
kind of makes sense.” And she told them about the human captives in the Quel’dethain Mountains, how they had moved northward killing anything and everything without reason. “One of them said that it was like the king controlled them through their minds. What would happen if they were doing this and then, all of a sudden, the king stopped controlling them? Would they be okay again or would they just be like vicious animals? Maybe that’s what happened. The king sent them over and was controlling them but then stopped for some reason.”
Virgil rubbed his chin as he considered the Azyrean. “That could explain it. This could be one of the advance groups that Wyndred sent through. Now that he’s planning his major campaign, he has no further use for them. They would simply run rampant, killing everything with which they came into contact.”
Kharla joined the group. “Then we must stop them.”
The human captain considered her for a moment before responding. “We will bring this to Corhymin. It will be her decision to make.”
The female ogre shouted her response. “Going after this band of killers is not a question. It is what we must do. Other kraals are out there defenseless.”
“Then we should go to the commander immediately.” Virgil paused and his face softened. “Klunk, we have not heard from you. Your voice is that of the kraal chiefs. What do you say?”
Klunk bowed his head. “Kharla speaks the truth. Our villages, our women and children, they are all defenseless. These human raiders, we have seen that they think nothing of taking life, killing for no reason other than wanting to. We cannot—I cannot—turn my back.” He stared at Virgil for a moment. “If you desire, I will take this question to our chiefs for their word, but I am certain they will say the same thing. We have a group of humans that are now in Crystal Sands, raiding and killing. The larger group may come through the portal at some unknown time. It seems to me, and I think the chiefs will agree, that the current invaders are the most serious problem.”
“I will defer to you. We will delay our scouting mission to the portal until we deal with this threat. We should organize a team immediately.”
Kharla’s face softened. “I will lead the party in search of these men.”
The captain eased over and sat beside the injured ogre. “Are you sure? If you leave, there will be no battle leader here should the need arise.”
“We will be gone only a short while. Klunk will be here. He can act in my place.”
Klunk’s face didn’t reflect the confidence that Kharla’s voice had carried. But he held his words as he nodded.
Virgil shrugged. “If you say so. Who will you take with you?”
“I will gather my best ogre fighters.”
“I would argue against that, Kharla. This is a rampaging, moving band of warriors. It is not so simple as going to a kraal and fighting them. You must first find them. If they are indeed out of control, they themselves may have no idea where they are going. You will need to track them. I suggest that we approach the elves for help."
Chapter 20: Crystal Sands
Tovi beamed. They needed him to go along in search of the human raiding party. He felt confident and important, even though he knew that the biggest reason he was there was because of his connection to River, the mystical animal that seemed also connected in some mysterious way to Myhrren. He stood, along with the rest of the group, at the edge of the main encampment, and peered out into the morning desert.
Kharla led the group and brought with her the two rock dogs, Growl and River. The elves had selected Ryshara, Ellemareth, and Ran, along with Lapis and Gemma, the two great wolves. Mathias provided the only representation from the humans.
As they made last minute preparations—shouldered packs, tightened straps, and adjusted their tunics—Kharla knelt by him. “Tovi, I tell you again. You are not with us to fight. If the battle comes, you are to remain as much out of the way as possible.” She kept her voice low. The words were clearly meant only for his ears.
He nodded. The directive was not completely unexpected. He did not, after all, even have a weapon. He reached over and stroked River. “You and me. We can do this.”
Kharla offered a warm smile and stood. “We journey, our backs to the sun. We must move.” And with that, she struck out across the desert.
Rys and Ran ranged ahead, one to the north of their track and the other to the south, always out in front by about thirty meters. Mathias and Elle brought up the rear with Tovi and Kharla marching in the center of the group. The four animals seemed to operate with unspoken coordination. Two ranged out front with the scouts, crisscrossing and sniffing the trail. The other two circled around behind the party.
As the sun approached directly overhead, Kharla called the group to a halt near an oasis. Ran and Ryshara had circled back in to join them and the four animals, who after one final sweep of the area, crept in and lay beside the spring. “We have covered much sand this morning. The kraal we seek is one more hour.”
The ogre left unsaid what they all expected to find—bodies decaying in the hot sun, most likely having been fed on by scavengers in the area. Tovi shuddered at the thought. Without thinking, he blurted out, “We will bury the bodies, yes?”
The group fell deathly silent until Kharla responded with a single word. “Yes.” It came out as a sigh of resignation. No one commented.
“These humans, which kraal would they head for next?” Tovi tried to picture the layout of the villages in this area. He had been to all of them, but he was unsure of their locations after all this time.”
Ryshara responded, “We have no reason to believe that they would head for any particular kraal. In fact, why would we expect them even to know locations? From what has been said, they are mindlessly rampaging. To me, that means that they move in a direction until they bump into something. There is plenty of small game around, so they would not be seeking out food, necessarily.”
Mathias chimed in, “Still doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve fought the king’s soldiers for years. They were loyal to him but never mindless. They moved with a purpose. Rampaging doesn’t make any sense.”
Rys shot back, “Perhaps, but from what we are told, these are not soldiers. They are citizens of your world who were conscripted by the king or Dredwyn or whoever it is. Coming here under duress with no background in warfare, they would wander aimlessly if not controlled. It is not a far leap from aimless wandering to ruthless rampaging, if the stories are true.”
As the group rewrapped and stowed their food into packs, they stood, slung their water skins around their necks, and trudged toward the setting sun.
The scene was even worse than Tovi had expected. He lost count as he wandered around the kraal in a stupor. More than thirty bodies, adults and children. He tried to wash the visions from his mind, but he had a bad feeling that they would never wash away. Ran had used his sword to shape some wooden slats from the huts into digging tools—large and flat with pointed ends.
Tovi dug, the tears stinging his cheeks and his heart breaking. He had lost that sense of pride and importance. He finished digging a grave and went to the next spot to start over. The sun dipped lower. A light wind picked up, a warm wind, but just enough to carry the stench away. How could any living being do such a thing as this? He had seen the fights when the bands of humans had stolen crystals or food. But they had taken what they wanted and left. This group had killed, apparently for the sake of killing and no other reason. He glanced back at his completed work—five graves. The others had also been digging and, because of them being larger and much quicker than Tovi, they had completed digging the remainder of the graves. Ran and Mathias then gently lay the bodies to rest. Elle and Rys began to cover them with sand and dirt.
The group worked in silence. The animals watched, occasionally wandering off and returning in short order. Tovi figured they were scouting, in case the humans circled back. But nothing came.
The last rays of sunlight faded as the orb slipped beneath the horizon. The final mound of dirt w
as packed, and rocks, such as could be found, were stacked atop the graves. Staring at the resting places of these gentle ogres, Tovi found himself swelling again, but not with pride. He felt anger and rage welling up inside. In that instant, he thought that he could squeeze the very life out of the vile beasts who had done this.
“We move.” Kharla’s voice broke through the curtain of gloom. “There is an oasis two hours walk to the north. We can make it just after dark. Fortunately, the moon will be with us.” She pointed to the east and a full moon, glowing deep orange as it cleared the horizon on its journey across the sky.
Without comment, they started—the same formation, the same patterns. Ryshara and Ran in front, Mathias and Elle to the rear. Tovi and Kharla in the center with the animals ranging wherever they happened to range.
It happened so fast that Tovi barely had time to react. Rys and Ran bolted back into the group, gesturing everyone to drop down. The four animals, likewise, crouched, each facing a different quadrant. Elle and Mathias shuffled up from behind on their knees and elbows.
Ran pointed out to the north. “Movement. I could not get an exact count but the numbers look to be around ten. Maybe fifty meters, headed to the southwest. If we turn, we can intercept them.”
Kharla barked softly, “Let’s go, move.” She eased up into a crouching position and crept forward, holding her club tightly with both hands.
Ran had estimated perfectly—ten of them. They moved haphazardly, noisily toward the southwest. Some carried greatswords. Others had one-handers and shields. One of them carried a massive war hammer, its hilt easily the height of a human and topped with a block of metal. This group apparently had no fear of detection. They made no effort to conceal themselves.
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