The Three Swords (The Ways of Mages)

by Catherine Beery

  Marcus Rider bowed his head.“I’m sorry that you had to see that.”

  The old woman laughed her eyes glittering.“Oh! m’boy, I’ve seen worse. Yes indeed, in the bad old years.”

  “Oh?”

  “Indeed. I wasn’t always a small village girl. Oh no, I had a very adventurous, thus dangerous, youth you could say.”Rider found himself smiling, liking the old woman more and more.

  “That was quick thinking, Rider.”Duncan said coming up.

  “Thank you, Sir.”Rider said saluting.

  Duncan looked from him to the other soldiers who were binding the drugged men. An idea came to him and he turned back to Marcus.“Where does your allegiance lie, Rider?”He asked.

  Marcus blinked and his fellows looked up from their work. Marcus responded without thinking.“My allegiance is to Pershara, as it has always been.”

  Duncan turned to the others“and yours?”

  “With Pershara!”they said with no hesitation.

  “I won’t push you to swear allegiance to King GrimHolden,”Duncan began but Rider interrupted him.

  “But I,”he glanced at the others who nodded at him,“we want to. We never swore an allegiance to the Puppet King. We swore to protect Pershara, which till now, we have been unable to do. You serve King GrimHolden, yes?”Duncan nodded.“Would you say that he is a better man then the thing on the throne?”

  “Yes, I do.”Duncan said solemnly.

  Marcus Rider nodded to himself.“We think the same. It would be my honor to give my allegiance to a man who actually understands his responsibility to his people.”The other Privates voiced their agreement.

  Duncan glanced at Trevor who grinned. He turned back to Rider.“Then I’ll hold your oath till Thomas GrimHolden comes to accept it himself. Is that agreeable to you?”The men nodded and swore their allegiance.

  “I have a favor to ask of you, friends.”Duncan said after all was said and done and the enemy soldiers were loaded on the Grinlean ship bound for the far south and some destination unknown.

  “What?”Rider asked as the new commander of the reformed Guard.

  “The knights have gone to face the enemy farther afield. Riverdale doesn’t have anyone to watch out for her…”

  “We would be honored to protect them till the knights’return.”Rider answered, guessing at what the knight was asking.

  “I think you then.”Duncan said putting a hand on his shoulder.

  Ralphy laughed.“I bet Old Lura will be glad to know her hero will be staying.”

  “I’m glad all the nice young men are staying.”Old Lura said picking plants along the roadside and into her herb satchel. Ralphy gulped having forgotten that she had been nearby.

  Once the villagers were safely back at Riverdale and the new guardians were given a tour of the now un-illusioned monastery Duncan, Trevor, and Kairevasigh bid them all fare well. It was time to leave. Kairevasigh jumped them to where the machine was then she and the two men took it to Pershara city.

  Chapter Thirteen–To Have all the Cards…

  “The Child of Darkness will be born in two months.”So Tommy had begun the meeting after he and Ryan had returned from their reconnaissance mission. The statement had silenced the rebel leaders present. General Timothy Stanton had sat down and focused inward. Screams echoed through his memory. He bitterly remembered the last time the Darkness had attacked. Last time it had been with the Fire’s of the Damned. The Reed had been forced to go with the balk of the troops into the city while Duncan and his knights drew enemy attention. Most of those men had died along with his most dear friend and mentor, the retired General T’Garen. Now the Child of Darkness was coming. What horrors would come with it?

  Perela also remembered that dark night when she had faced the Fire’s. She had done everything in her power to protect the men, but the Fire’s spell had weakened her magic. For every man lost she had tried harder. She had challenged Altana who had spoken to demoralize the remaining men, had been threatened by three Dark Lords, had been saved by her Lord and the wonderful timing of her father.

  She and her grandmother Kindra traded troubled looks. They knew the prophecy. They knew that more horrors were to come before all of this was over.

  The only two who were not yet aware of the newest threat were Bendon and Robert. The two old men had locked themselves away in a work room and refused to come out. They were up to something. Some sort of new project that concerned Kindra. Though, frankly, she worried every time those two were together.

  Kindra wished that they could have been convinced to leave the room and hear this. They would have had some idea as to what needed to be done because at that moment, only one thought was racing about her mind.“They have the Child of Darkness.”She said softly.

  The others stirred. Perela’s eyes were wide.“And we don’t have the Child of Light.”She pointed out. Looking about that table, it was clear that everyone understood that the Darkness was ahead of them. All the Dark needed now were the Three of Three.

  “To make it a little worse,”Ryan began with morbid humor, his golden eyes meeting Kindra’s,“The Child of Darkness’s soul will be the Lord of Shadows. The prevalent detail here is that they want to bind the Dark Lord’s soul to the body with a baptism of blood from a sacrificed dragon. To make it even worse, that dragon’s soul will be what provides the energy to bind the two.”

  Kindra paled. To be tortured and then have one’s soul destroyed was beyond horrific. She may not occupy the body of a dragon, but she did have a dragon’s soul. Meeting Ryan’s eyes she saw a similar fear. If he was whom she thought he was, he was exactly what the Dark Lords would be looking for.

  There was a knock on the door. At the Reed’s nod, Perela deactivated the silence shield. Sergeant Toliver, who was standing guard with his faithful shadow Tep, poked his head in.“Beggin yer pardon, but Duncan, Trevor and Kairvesigh are here.”

  “Let them in.”Reed instructed. Toliver opened the door wider. Duncan, Trevor, and a pink in the face Kairevasigh entered. Seats were pulled up and Kairevasigh sat next to Kindra.

  The mother dragon noted the girl’s color and asked“are you okay?”

  Kairevasigh shook her head muttering“He didn’t mean too. I keep trying to correct his pronunciation of my name, but it never works. I just wish he hadn’t said‘ve’.”

  “Why?”Kindra asked with her brow furrowed.

  Kairevasigh flushed redder.“It’s very crude. Um…”She squirmed in her seat obviously trying to think how to explain.“I’m not sure how to translate it into Persharan. Let’s just say only prostitutes use it in their names.”

  “Oh…”Kindra glanced at Perela who was on the other side of the embarrassed girl. Perela was trying very hard not to laugh.

  “We will tell him not to do it again.”Perela assured once she got control of herself. She could imagine that the Sergeant might have a good time with it though…

  “Thanks.”Kairevasigh muttered softly.

  Unaware of the conversation the women were having, Reed asked Duncan and Trevor to debrief. Perela reactivated the shield. The general was glad to hear that the knights were on their way. They only had to wait for the men to make the week or more journey, but at least they were coming. The debriefing got much more interesting when Duncan told them about the Table and its guardian.

  “Kaizir made it.”Kairevasigh told them.

  “There is a magic table under the monastery? And the knights didn’t know about it?”Tommy asked surprised.

  “It was deactivated.”Duncan pointed out. Tommy just shook his head. Duncan continued ignoring the king of thieves.“It came in handy when the guard decided to march on the monastery.”Duncan said with a grin before explaining how Kairevasigh or the guardian could focus on the whole region or just sections of it. It could also cast wide range illusions. It had been a key instrument in their ability to make sure the skirmish with the King’s Guard went their way.

  “How did you find it?”Kindra asked.


  Trevor inclined his head toward Kairevasigh.“It was all her.”

  When all eyes fell on her Kairevasigh shrugged self-consciously.“I was just following the dragonet voices.”She explained.

  “WHAT?!”Kindra, Perela, and Ryan squawked at about the same time.

  Kairevasigh startled and glance between them.“Sorry, I should have said something sooner. There are three dragon eggs under the monastery.”

  “How?”Kindra gasped. For nearly a thousand years she had thought she was the last. There was the possibility that Fieressen lived, but now she had proof that three younglings lived. How could there be three eggs after all this time? Whose young were they?

  “How could they have gotten there?”Ryan inquired.

  “The Guardian said that they had been there for centuries. From the fact that the Table’s runes had been changed or deactivated, I’m guessing that the Dark Kin had something to do with it.”Trevor explained.

  “Oh dear Lord…”Kindra nearly cried.“They were tied to the Barrier. They had to have been. But why they are free now, I couldn’t even guess.”She turned to Kairevasigh.“Are they alright?!”

  The girl nodded.“They seem to be. There are two males and a female.”

  “If the Dark Kin used them for an anchor to the Barrier,”Perela began slowly,“then the Dark knows they are there. They may also find a way to compromise the Table again.”

  Kindra met General Stanton’s gaze.“We need to bring the eggs to safety.”She said with all the urgency of a worried mother.

  “I hear you, Kindra. But bringing the eggs here will not do them any favors.”Reed said.“This is a war zone. Not only that, but the Darkness is focused here and they want and need a dragon for their dark ceremony.”

  The three who had just entered were puzzled by this.“What?”Trevor asked.

  Perela leaned toward him and said“The Child of Darkness will be born in two months.”Their eyes widened.

  “But what can we do?”The mother dragon cried still focused on the eggs. “We must do something.”

  “Of course we will do something.”Tommy said patting her shoulder.“You and Kairevasigh go get the eggs and go somewhere that is a safe place. A place where few of us know.”He leaned closer to her.“You know a good place. One that is a perfect place to hide a jewel?”Kindra blinked at him and he winked mischievously. She smiled at him. She knew exactly where he meant. She also knew he was suggesting this to keep her safe as well as the young unhatched dragons.

  ***

  He entered his room with a sigh. Kindra and Kairevasigh had just left for Riverdale to fetch the eggs. Before that, as they waited for nightfall, Kindra had taught Kairevasigh Persharan geography. Of course, Kairevasigh had pointed to the name Mt. Rageron wondering why it had been named that. Kindra had explained that Rageron was at present a dormant volcano. For centuries it had been quiet, but when it had been active it had been sudden and terrible. Many villages and towns that had been on its slopes or anywhere nearby had been eradicated. Those that had been spared had given thanks to God. The mountain had raged for a solid eighty-four years without ceasing. The villages that had survived became abandoned. No one enjoyed living next to or visiting a mountain that threw constant tantrums.

  There were legends that told why the mountain had erupted so suddenly and without any knowable reason. None of them were right. Some were close, but he knew the truth. No one living but he and the merciful Lord Most High knew the truth.

  It hadn’t been some birth of a fireworm or some sudden weakening of the bedrock. No, it had been him. He had gone by a different name then. An ancient name that he did everything he could to forget and have others forget. He had called the blood and heat from the heart of the world. Had ruthlessly forced it to come. Anger, guilt, and soul shredding grief had driven him out of his mind. Running into the mountain had been why he had sought sanctuary in its heart. There in the heart of the mountain the why those towns were destroyed festered into being. It had been revenge satisfied through murderous rage. The only redeeming factor of what he had done was that those destroyed villages had had temples of some Dark Lord or other. There had been no mercy. It hadn’t fit anywhere in his plan or thought patterns. It was only God who kept him from killing innocents and he knew, knew, that he would be eternally grateful for that. Though at the time, he hadn’t cared who died. After all, what was the point of life since his had been destroyed? He had been consumed with the need to lash out and destroy. Had taken joy in the destruction. Had gloried in it.

  There was no way to sugarcoat the darkest moment of his life. He didn’t deserve to have it sugarcoated. He was ashamed of it now. She would have been ashamed of it if she had been alive to see the monster that he had been. He deserved that and worse for his even greater crime…

  Trembling he crossed the room and opened the secret compartment in the wall and pulled out the old and well used bible. Its touch soothed him. It reminded him that God had always been there for him even though it had taken him so long to turn and seek forgiveness. To turn back completely to God. Lucky for him, the Lord was patient. After Rageron it had taken him almost two and a half centuries and two identities (a cold hearted mercenary named Treyson and a white Tree Gir) to realize that something vital was missing from his life. That he actually wanted to live. He couldn’t hide in the wild as a Tree Gir forever, though he had tried for two hundred years.

  Absently sitting on the bed he stroked the aged and familiar cover. Taking a breath, he slid his fingers along the soft pages. He slowly opened the book. Tucked in the pages was a silk bookmark embroidered with a fire lily. His shaking hand hovered over it. He couldn’t bring himself to touch it. Too much pain and loss was tied to that small bit of cloth. Sucking in a breath, he drew his hand back and closed the book. He hid it away again for safe keeping.

  He laid down to sleep well aware that it would be a rough night. God had forgiven him ages ago, but he still found it hard to forgive himself.

  Pershara, 2271 years before present.

  It was the greatest day of his life. It didn’t matter that visions of darkness spreading through Arathin haunted him. He could push them aside for now. He was getting married to the love of his life, Pyra. She looked like a faetale queen in the white gown. Her skin glowed with her happiness. Her ruby red hair was to her shoulders and wavy, making her look even more faeish. She smiled joyfully at him over their clasped hands. He would never ever forget the way her purple eyes danced.

  That night they danced and played in the sky in their dragonic forms. She was the embodiment of joy and was playful. She loved playing hide and seek with him because, he assumed, that she always won. Her forest green scales and blue wings made her hard to find in the dark forests. He on the other hand was easy to find. White scales, ruby fringe and wings, and golden eyes made hiding nigh impossible. He was a bit competitive, but he loved hearing her triumphant laugh. He didn’t mind losing at hide in seek. He won other games. And on that night of their wedding the ending of each game came with some interesting award; something fun, mysterious, and magical…

  Eight months later the dream turned to a nightmare. He and Pyra couldn’t pretend the world didn’t exist anymore. The visions of darkness sweeping over Arathin would no longer give him peace. He blood duty demanded that he try to warn his people in Arathin that things would only get worse and worse.

  “Go, my love,”Pyra’s gentle hand touched his cheek.

  “I don’t want to leave you.”He responded holding her hand to his cheek. He moved to kiss her palm.

  Pyra giggled.“Oh,“She spoke that ancient name that he blocked out even in dreams. The pain had become too great to hear her say it.“I know you don’t. But you have a duty to warn others.”Her expression sobered“And if you do what you are meant to do, the visions will stop hurting you.”

  “How did you know?”He asked. He had thought that he hid his pain from her.

  She laughed and gave him a wife’s knowing look.“You can hid nothing from m
e, husband. Go, so you can return sooner to me,”her hand rested on her rounded belly,“and the little ones.”

  Not wanting to, but seeing no other way, he had gone. She had helped him pack, slipping in the fire lily silk for him to hold on to till he could return home…

  He woke trying to stave off the next part of the dream, or rather The Nightmare. He fought desperately not wanting to see how horribly he had failed her. He fought, but his body was exhausted and his eyes closed.

  …A month later saw him flying swiftly, worry eating at him. Pyra had not been at home. And the house had been in ruins. He was following the scent of her blood. He was praying that he would find her alive. Halfway between Tharsa and the region known as Emerniel he found her.

  With a strangled cry he circled the clearing and landed. The stench of Dark Kin assailed his senses. And in the middle of it all was the cloying scent of death. Her recognizable green scaled hide were draped of several branches. The rest of her was twisted and shredded. And if he had any doubts about who she was, her head was on a pike feet from her mortal shell. Her hide had been left on the head. Her expression was a rictus of horrible pain. Her once gleaming purple eyes long since darkened.

  Tears streamed from his eyes. Sorrow crippled him. His once colorful, joyful mate had been attacked and killed by the Enemy and he hadn’t been there to protect her. Protect her or their young. Guilt took him by the throat. He had failed his vow to her. He had failed. Black rage at her murderers turned the world red. Anger fed by pain birthed a monster...

  Flames burned her remains and a good portion of the forest before rain could put it out leaving a dark scar upon the earth. In the far north an unnamed mountain gushed molten blood.

  He gasped awake. His skin was clammy with sweat. Tears stung his eyes. His heart ached afresh. The blood of the earth ached with him. It would come if he called. It would surround him with burning vengeance for his mate…He was seriously tempted. The Dark Kin would lose their strangle hold on the throne because there would be no throne. No city, because it would die. Lurching away from the edge, he rolled out of bed and landed painfully on his knees. And he prayed sobbing. Begging to not fall again into the destroying monster he had been. There were no words for no word could hope to encapsulate the sorrow, pain, guilt, and shame he felt. The only one who could understand him didn’t need words. Love held him, soothed him. The ghost of the monster faded away.