The Three Swords (The Ways of Mages)

by Catherine Beery

  Gregier smiled even more. He knew that T’Serol had the upmost respect for the knights in the monastery. He would not act immediately. It would then fall to Gregier to remove the incapable sergeant and carry out the orders that his king and his master had commanded.

  “Sir, what are the new orders?” Gregier asked T’Serol. T’Serol glanced at him before crushing the message into a ball and tossing it in the fire.

  “We don’t have any new orders.”

  “Then what was that?” Gregier asked coming closer and indicating the brazier.

  “Fuel.” T’Serol said dismissively. He made to move past his second in command. Gregier let him walk past with a smile broad on his face. He had never liked the goody-goody sergeant. Gregier turned quickly and slammed the long knife in his hand into the side of the other man’s neck. T’Serol was helpless and very much dead before he hit the ground, the knife buried to the hilt in his throat.

  As Gregier was studying his kill he failed to notice that the tent flap had opened slightly. Private Rider quickly backed away after seeing his friend and commander’s body on the ground. He had always known that the corporal was a sick son-of-a- bitch, but seeing him murder the sergeant like that… And now studying the body like it was a piece of art? It turned Rider’s stomach. And what twisted it even more was the fact that he could do nothing now. There was another corporal and several of the other men who were of the same batch as Gregier. If he said anything now, Gregier and his cronies would blame him and the rest of the squad would have to take their word over his.

  Slipping away from the tent, Rider glanced over the treetops to see where the monastery’s wall blotted out the stars. Perhaps they would listen to him. But he couldn’t leave yet. He would have to leave during his patrol. Till then, he would join the other’s and pretend nothing was amiss. He admitted that someone was looking out for him, because no one had been there to see his halted visit to the command tent.

  after awhile Corporal Gregier stepped out of the tent and called for the attention of the men. They looked up from their evening activities. “We have had a change of orders. The king wishes to punish the monks of the monastery for turning traitor. They have joined the rebels!” Gregier said in a disgusted voice. “We are to join Squads Red Raven and Black Boar in taking the monastery. Get ready to move out. We leave at midnight.”

  Rider joined the others in getting ready. But unlike them, he would be leaving far earlier then midnight. He had to get a warning to the monks. And perhaps, they would help him gain justice for his fallen friend.

  A faint, eerie cry rippled over the camp. It caused the men to freeze and look around for where it was coming from. The man near Rider muttered something about ghosts and fairy lights. Rider glanced uneasily at the forest. Could it be that whatever was in this place knew about the murder of his friend and mourned as well? Did it know of justice? Of vengeance? Or was it something more sinister?

  ***

  As the two monks walked back to their home Duncan opened his mouth, which sometimes was a dangerous thing to do. “What was that about? You and the Sergeant seemed to have been telling each other fae stories.”

  Father Thomas glanced at his younger companion. “Your youth is showing, my friend. Even if the good sergeant and I were just telling each other fae stories there would be a crumb of truth. But we were not telling each other stories. Strange things have been happening lately. Lights in the forest have been the most common. But other things too. What the sergeant was telling has happened in the monastery too. But more so. I’ve had servants tell me that they are troubled by whispering and light touches when there is no one there.”

  “I thought such things were just stories.”

  “They are not. There is more about this place than meets the eye, GrimBennett. Do you know why the monastery was built here and not somewhere else? Like Vandenburg?”

  “Riverdale is far enough away to remain focused on God yet close enough to still know the world in which we live.” Duncan replied feeling much like he was back in class.

  Father Thomas nodded. “Yes. It is also a place that, for whatever the reason, is a magic sync. What better place for magically trained knights to live?” Father Thomas said with a smile. He then continued. “Of course, there is also the fact that the Grimedian founders were drawn by God to the site to build their home/school. Because of this, there is a legend that says that no evil can succeed at the monastery. That it is protected…” Father Thomas paused for a few moments before saying. “It is within that legend that come the warnings for those of evil intent that they will always be watched by ever burning lights, that things will not be easy for them, and that going to sleep would be difficult at best.”

  Duncan’s brow furrowed. “Parts of that sounds familiar.” Taking a breath he continued. “Alright, there is more to dear old home than I thought. I can understand why things are happening to the soldiers outside, but why is stuff happening within the walls?”

  “That is the question. I wonder…” Father Thomas thought a moment before looking at Duncan. “There is something that I think you should see. It will help in more ways than one, I believe. Because, unless I miss my guess, the orders that our friend back there received are not good for all involved. Come.”

  It was about at that time that they hear an eerie cry that sounded like a mix between an eagle’s shriek and wind whistling under a lonely eave. Both monks froze. Duncan’s hand fell to the pummel of his long knife. Father Thomas raised wary eyes toward the monastery.

  “Any idea as to what that was?” Duncan asked scanning the surrounding forest for any hint of an attack.

  “Something has happened.” The good Father murmured. “I just don’t know what. That cry though, how would you describe it?” The older man asked turning to Duncan.

  Duncan raised a blond brow. “An eagle, or maybe just wind under an eave.” He replied.

  Father Thomas looked thoughtfully toward the monastery. “An old account tried to describe a cry like that... Come, let us go see what this is all about.” The two monks hurried their trek back home.

  Chapter Nine- To Open One’s Eyes

  Kairevasigh peered out the open window. The wind tugged at her dark brown hair. Night was beginning to touch the world. Behind her, Trevor and Jason were catching up. Trevor had told Jason what had actually happened to him when reports said that he had died. Jason was now telling his older cousin about his progress to become a monastic knight. Kairevasigh tried not to hear, but that was hard when one was in the same room as the conversation. She had gotten as far from them as she could to give them privacy. The window had proved to be her only escape.

  Looking down she saw that the room they were in was fairly high off the ground, overlooking some sort of court yard. Some servants were moving around below. One she tracked coming toward the door several floors below the window she was peering out of. Not willing to let the woman disappear quite yet, Kairevasigh climbed further out of the sill. Looking straight down as she was made her long to fly again. She had been grounded far too long…She glanced back at the two men talking. They were not paying her any attention and another look at the courtyard proved that the servants were busy elsewhere. With a smile the Sheyestivan girl wriggled out of the window.

  Jason chose that moment to look toward the girl whom he and his cousin had been accidentally ignoring. He let out a cry as he watched her feet slip pass the ledge. He and Trevor immediately raced to the window horrified in the knowledge that they were about to see the strange girl’s splattered remains on the ground below. They gasped their surprise when a black eagle the size of a small pony skimmed up past the window. The cousins stared at each other for a moment before running for the courtyard.

  Kairevasigh kept low to the roof to avoid gaining any more attention than she already had. This was her answer to the conundrum she had found herself in: of being from a secretive race that kept their abilities to themselves but wanting to stretch her wings. The sun was setting and
its last rays felt good stroking her feathers with warmth. Kairevasigh perched in a cranny of the roof that hid most of her bulk yet allowed her a good vantage point to see the expanse around the monastery. In the near distance she could see the King’s Guard blockade and, further away, their camp. Duncan and the old monk, Father Thomas, had gone in that direction earlier. She wondered if their conversations were going well.

  She narrowed her eyes in thought. A part of her still wondered at talking to the enemy. She knew many back home would think it foolish. Just either kill them or get them to kill themselves would be the common advice. But Kairevasigh could see how actually talking and making the enemy into a friend could be even better.

  That requires trust and a bit of faith….she thought. Of course, if any back home did something like that, they could just as easily use the new‘friend’before killing them once they were deemed as no longer useful. Kairevasigh shivered as she tried to understand how her people had become so untrusting and treacherous. They certainly hadn’t started out that way.

  It was then that a faint mental cry interrupted her musings.“Mommy! Mommy? Can you hear us?!” Whoever sent it was untrained as it was open to any to hear if they had the ability. But despite its faintness, Kairevasigh felt a strength that she had only felt around Kindra and Ryan. Bendon and Robert had a similar sense around them, but not quite as strong. The suddenness of it startled Kairevasigh. She held still and waited to see if she would hear it again. It came again, though with a more profound sob“Mommy!”

  “It’s no use…” Another faintly said. There were only broken sobs after that. Fainter and fainter till it took every skill Kairevasigh had in focusing.

  “Where are you?”Kairevasigh asked toward where she thought the voices had come from. She said it again when there was no response. She waited for a moment, but the voices did not respond. Perhaps she was too quiet or they were no longer listening. In the inner courtyard she saw the McGill cousins come out looking around. She shifted to return to the ground near them when the voices began calling.

  “Here! We’re here!” Along with the voices came a faint but very noticeable beat of power. Kairevasigh lunched off of the roof and dove into the courtyard with the McGill cousins. They stared with wide eyes as she came near. At her approach their hands flew to their weapons. Other knights, alerted by the noise the servants were making did likewise. Twenty feet from the cousins Kairevasigh back winged before changing back into her human form. She stumbled a few steps before catching herself. The surprised looks upon their faces was worth almost getting skewered.

  “Hi, sorry for worrying you. But…”She looked over her shoulder. The calls were coming from behind her.

  “But?”Trevor managed to ask having recovered first.

  “There is something…Follow me.”She said before stepping away. She figured the best way to get a better feel for where the voices were calling from would be from the air. So a couple steps away from the men she shifted back into her eagle form that launched itself into the wind.

  “How are we supposed to follow?”Jason called after. She responded by letting out a night eagle’s cry. The sound, reminiscent to a mix between an eagle’s scream and wind whistling under an eave trembled about the courtyard. Jason shivered.“I guess that works.”He muttered.

  Kairevasigh flew up to the roof line and over, following the voices.“I’m coming!” She sent so they wouldn’t stop calling. The monastery was not the largest building or complex that she had ever seen, but it was good sized. There was the sanctuary and bell tower, the Petitioners hall and the Library as well as barracks for the knights. There were several courtyards. One was where visitors to the monastery entered. There was also the training court for the young knights to be. There was also the kitchen and flower court. Of the three courts, the training was the largest as it was shared between weapons training and horsemanship.

  The silent cries were coming from the garden courtyard. She let out another cry as she landed. She then continued to listen, her avian head cocked to one side.“Keep talking.”She told the young criers.

  “You are closer!”The more feminine of the callers said joyously.“Please find us!”

  “Don’t stop calling and I will” Kairevasigh said with confidence. The girl/eagle trod carefully through the plants. All of her focus on the direction the mental cries were coming from. She no longer saw the wide eyed servants. That and her calls were what guided the McGill cousins to her location.

  The knight master who taught the novices land navigation approached them.“What is that?”He asked pointing at the pony sized eagle.

  “Master L’teran”Jason said with a salute.“That would be the girl who arrived with my cousin and the Master of Arms this morning.”

  Master L’terana blinked at him before glancing back at the eagle.“How?”

  “She is a shapeshifter, apparently.”Trevor replied. the last he muttered quietly. That hadn’t been something he had expected.

  “What is she doing?”L’teran asked.

  “She said that she was looking for something. And don’t ask me what, because I have no idea.”Trevor said shaking his head. The group watched the eagle step carefully through the garden as she approached the monastery wall. She cried out again, the haunting sound sending shivers down the backs of everyone in hearing distance. The eagle dissolved into a black mist that condensed into the twelve year old girl that Trevor and Jason knew.

  The cousins came closer after suggesting to L’teran to keep others away till they knew what they were dealing with. The older knight agreed and waved the others away. Kairevasigh was running her hands over the wall. Hearing their approach she turned to them. Her startling black veined blue eyes glittered with excited anxiety. “They are past here!”She said.

  “Who?”Trevor asked looking at the section of wall she was searching. It looked no different from the rest of the wall. But then, when was anything exactly as it seemed? The rebel leader stroked his black beard considering the possibilities. Chances were good that the monastery had a few secret passages. The creepy part was that Kairevasigh had been drawn to one because of unheard voices.“Who are they?”He asked again.

  The girl glanced at him with a puzzled frown.“I don’t know. But they had been crying for their mother. Now they just want to be found.”Kairevasigh tilted her listening.“They feel similar to Kindra.”

  “Dragons?”Trevor said in shock.

  Kairevasigh shrugged.“I don’t know for sure.”she continued touching the wall.“There has to be a way in…”She muttered.

  Jason shifted his weight before saying“there is. But you’ll have to follow me.”

  Trevor raised a dark brow at his cousin.“And when exactly did you have time to go exploring?”Jason flushed slightly before muttering something that had Trevor smirking. Jason turned away and gestured for the two to follow him. They entered the monastery through a side door. Jason led them to a storage room.

  “There was a time when I needed to find a place to be alone when I found this.”Jason explained as he pushed some crates out of the way. He pointed at a indent three inches from the floor. He pressed it with his fingers and the section of wall above it shifted in slightly before sliding down out of sight. Kairevasigh gasped before stepping in. Jason whispered and a light appeared in his hand, a soft pressure on the nape of Kairevasigh’s and Trevor’s necks. Trevor followed Jason in. Once inside the tunnel, Jason touched a section of the wall and the secret door slid back up into place.

  Kairevasigh glanced around before heading off down the passageway. Jason walked in the middle holding his lit hand to provide the most light. They eventually came to an intersection. Without hesitation, Kairevasigh set off to the right which led to a set of roughly hewn steps that spiraled down.

  Not bothering to question how the girl knew which way to go, Trevor asked his cousin how extensive the tunnels were.

  “Very.”Jason replied.“It’s a maze. And most of it seems to be a natural cave system.”Time p
assed as Kairevasigh led them through the winding tunnels. It became very clear that very few had ever traversed these tunnels. The scent of stillness filled the air. Water had seeped up from below in some of the unaltered caverns making dark pools of still water. Jason’s mage light flickered off of creatures who had never known light. Leaving the cavern with a huge stretch of still water, Jason told Trevor that they were near one of the courtyards.

  “Why do you say that?”His older cousin asked perplexed.

  Jason pointed at one side of the narrow tunnel they were traversing.“That wall has water running down the edge.“Trevor studied the wall and saw that his cousin was correct. It wasn’t a lot of water running down, but it was enough to cause small channels to be carved through the rock. The opposite wall was only slightly moist.

  “You’re closer again!” the young voices told Kairevasigh as she walked further.

  “Good.” The Sheyestivan girl told them mentally.“Keep talking to me.”

  “We will.” They told her. She could feel their excitement.

  Suddenly there was a very slight, cool breeze that in an already somewhat cold cave system made the group shiver. Kairevasigh became very still.

  "Where did that draft come from?" Jason whispered, picking up on Kairevasigh's stillness. Trevor's hand rested on his sword hilt. The general of his Majesties' Royal Rangers eyed the darkness beyond Jason's light. There was a chill running up his spine. They were being watched...

  "Hilo van," a none-gendered voice whispered from ahead of them. Kairevasigh gasped at both hearing her own language and seeing a shadow move further ahead. It detached itself from the stone wall. It began to form itself into a graceful creature with a body of a large feline. Sprouting from its back were wings that looked soft and feathery. The form was more like a flat silhouette then anything else, yet it was able to suggest that it was three dimensional. The shadow creature sat down in the middle of the tunnel with dignified calm. "Hilo van," it said again, "xyth'ar yaiye sormen zah?"