"Truly?"
"Yes, I think so. You made me very angry when you left. I'm over it now."
"Me, too," added Nadine. Steve nodded and apologised once again. Nadine stopped him. "Enough, you've explained yourself, but why you would hold yourself to a promise made so many years ago is beyond my ken. Franky should have talked you out of it."
"I didn't even try," murmured Franky. "I wanted to go."
"That's because you crave that life, my dear," said Nadine. People forgot she was much older than them and Franky frowned a little. Her words sometimes sounded strange coming from a lass of her visual youth. Steve stroked her arm stub, and she relaxed. "Don't deny it! You lived too long on the farm. You were itching for a fight and along comes Baron Stupid-Arse with a way to it. Of course you jumped on the chance. It's in your blood. You're just like him, except Steve fights to avoid violence. You are drawn to it. For justice, same as him, but for different reasons, eh?"
Franky chewed her lip for a moment and didn't respond. In time, she nodded, and that was it. She was tough as nails and if she took offence at the truth, she hid it.
"Any word from Brent and James?" I asked. "Did you hear anything about them in Jergen?"
"No. Nothing. We never had time. There was too much going on."
"Last word we had from him was that he was heading to Munsten. He had met with the Church." I drew quiet and worried a little about Brent. I had liked him. He had stopped Seth and Erebus and I felt a debt to him. The power he had wielded all those months ago intrigued me. We had examined his amulet in detail before he had left. He had even allowed me to examine his forehead with my senses. He was a normal man with nothing extraordinary about him. We talked a little about Gaea and his God. He was convinced they were the same thing. I had felt Gaea's amusement at the concept but withheld that fact from Brent. He was consumed with his faith. He had a journey to follow and I would not be the one to seed doubt in his mind. I changed topics. "The Baron is still alive?" I asked.
Steve nodded. "Aye, when we left he was. Our Lord Andrew Windthrop showed his true colours in Jergen. He would strike down anything and anyone in his path. He was a madman. No discipline. No respect. It filtered down through his men. Unruly lot. Franky and the crew had a time of it taking them down to Jergen."
I sensed Steve's heart rate speed up a little at the words. I watched his colours swirl blue and white and spike with red. "What happened there?"
"In Jergen? That was a mess. I tried to warn the Baron to stay clear but he would hear nothing of it. He wanted a bath at his mansion, I suppose. Dismissed my warning as if it were nothing."
Franky stirred. "It worked out in the end. Had we stayed clear, the city would have been under siege even now instead of free. We wouldn't have seen what he was capable of. Now we know."
"True," replied Steve, if a bit grudgingly. "Well, we entered the city, then the Colonel of the garrison tried to arrest the Baron. Ass of a man—now missing a head. Just as that happened a foreign army sailed into the city under pursuit of the Admiral, still loyal to the Realm. We took the opportunity to have the Baron hightail it out of Jergen. The crew and I merged into the city and started to chip away."
"Who were these men that attacked the city?"
"They come from the land to the east called Cian-Oirthear. The same land the Lord Protector used to establish martial law decades ago. They always were a threat to the Realm. Pushing west and ready to cross the Belkin Sea. A land of sand.
"What is disturbing is that Healy is in cahoots with them. Munsten accepted a host at the same time along with their leader, a man named Mushir Adham. Healy invited them to join the Realm to help push down the rebellion. He said he needs them to fight the demons. You. It's a stupid thing to do. It's like opening your house to a bear for lunch. They'll never leave now that they have a foothold. At least they're out of Jergen. We killed their leader—a man called Hassim. Killed with an arrow in the throat. We left Jergen with the Baron. He's bringing the garrison into his army to recover his losses. They'll train together there before heading to Munsten. That leaves us with one threat and that's the army in Munsten. The Admiral had word that they were training together and getting ready to move out into the Realm.
"I worry that we are too few. There is great unrest throughout the Realm. Rumours only but villages and towns are rebelling. The Church and the Word are competing again. It's the Revolution all over again. Many will die. That is certain. I tell you, the draoi can make a difference. Surely you see that?"
I became quiet dwelling on what he suggested. I had known not to follow the Baron to Jergen. And at the moment I felt no stirring need to head to Munsten. Nadine had the benefit of being able to talk to Gaea when she wanted. She ignored me.
I needed more information. I needed to understand better what was happening throughout the realm and until my stocs moved out to cover the land, I was blind. On an impulse, I threw out my senses and asked the draoi to assist me. They responded at once and poured their power into me. Within moments, my sensory range extended out miles and miles. I felt Nadine stiffen beside me as my mind soared following life along the route to Jergen. I kept a thread back to my body and leaped from tree to tree pushing faster and faster. I had never attempted this before but knew I could do it as soon as I started.
Nadine stumbled in her conversation at the small table before resuming. I felt her commune with Gaea and then relax after glancing at me a moment. She turned her attention to Steve. "You asking the draoi to help you again?" asked Nadine. "Are ye daft, son?"
Steve smiled. "No, Nadine, I'm not. I'm asking for help, yes. The people of Jergen were caught in the fighting. Those horrible cannons of the Navy decimated them. Tore people apart like they were nothing. We needed healing. I lost three people who would have survived if Will and the draoi had been there. Alive now to enjoy their life. But they're gone. I can't lose more. I know I will until the war is over but I'm not willingly to lose them if I can do something about it."
"I hear ye, Steve Comlin. But it's not that simple. It's not pride or any other such nonsense. The draoi are of the land, not the people. Do you ken?"
"I'm trying, Nadine, you know I am. Will has no bigger supporter than I. Surely he can understand he can help stop the suffering. You have to see that at least."
"We would heal both sides, Steve. We can't take sides. Priority goes to those worse off. People aren't too important to Gaea. Its nature that is important. People are just a small part of that."
Steve looked frustrated and gritted his teeth. Franky sat up and leaned on her one elbow on the table. She spoke softly. "I don't understand why you would hesitate. Our crew are Will's people again. Steve is bound by his oath to you. He renounced the old oath with the Baron in Jergen. Publicly, I should add. No one disputed that right, and we walked away clean. He's here now to help you! Why would you not help him? Us?"
Nadine pulled herself upright. "Will did not require an oath and never asked for one. That oath is between Steve and Will, not between Will and Steve."
"What!" cried out Franky. "How can you say that?"
"Calm, Franky, I'm not trying to cause insult," said Nadine. "The draoi can utter no oath other than the pledge they have to the land."
"So Steve is bound and Will is not?"
"Yes. Steve bound himself to Will. Will is bound to the land."
Franky stared at Nadine in surprise with her mouth held open. "That's nae the way it works, lass!"
"I'm not a lass, and don't tell me what is what!"
"Ladies, ladies, calm yourselves!" soothed Steve. "I have no problem with my oath. I never asked Will for one and I won't."
Meanwhile, I was farther away than I had ever been—the combined power of the draoi gave me wings. I didn't fly so much as join the land farther and farther out. I could sense my body miles away and hear the conversation around the table, but my sight and senses were well south of the farm and almost at Jergen.
I spied the city and found the Baron soon enou
gh. It took moments. I thought of him and found him amongst the bright lights of the individuals in the city. He was lounging by an indoor pool in a massive home. Lying near him was an unknown man with a pointed beard. They were drinking and eating. I looked out over the city and saw the damage down by the harbour and throughout the city. The fighting had been fierce, and I found many people with injuries. Their pain radiated out into the air in waves. I quickly checked Nadine's house on the cliff and was relieved to find Ness and her children safe and sound. The house was in better repair and the family looked well fed. The belongings of Brent and James was gone and of the two men there was no sign. They must be in Munsten and I turned my gaze to the north.
I left Jergen and headed north as fast as I could. I travelled beside a well-used road and quickly came across a large crossroad with inns and shops. I paused to look it over. It was almost a town but without organisation. Buildings were built here and there beside the roads. Inns, stores and places dark and mysterious clustered in the centre and competed for coin. Beyond the crossroad was a massive area with large open fields and flat land everywhere for miles around. I felt Gaea's interest in the area and then she was gone.
I felt a pull and raced north and saw what I was drawn to. A band of military men were riding south hard on horses. They were well north of the city of Curachan. As I came closer, I recognised Brent Bairstow and James Dixon riding up front. Beside him rode a vicar of the church, looking sore and flustered trying to remain seated on his destrier. Beside them was another man I did not know but recognised his chirurgeon robes.
Following behind were more military men and women on horseback. They looked sore, tired, and weak. Many teetered on the edge of exhaustion. Signs of abuse marked them all except Brent. He looked whole and invigorated. He drove south with abandon. He would kill them in his zeal. He couldn't see the pain he was causing but sensed the chirurgeon did. I circled his horse concerned for his followers. I had to slow him down and so I calmed the horses and asked them to stop and rest.
As one the horses obeyed, and they stopped with sides heaving and foam blowing. Brent looked confused and angry and kicked his horse's flanks and yelled. The men and women looked about in wonder and the vicar mopped his sweating brow thankful for the break.
I urged the horses toward a small stream that fed a tiny lake near the road. I watched in mirth as several of the men and women leaped from their horses and tried to get them to change direction. The horses could now smell the clear and cool water and broke into a trot leaving many behind. The soldiers still riding slid from their horses and followed on foot to the water's edge. Brent looked even more furious and tried to pull his horse's head from the water.
It was then that Brent finally took notice of his people. Many had collapsed on the ground and could move no more. Brent dismounted and ran forward calling on others to help. Finally, he stood and backed away while others stepped forward to help. He moved to his horse and looked her over. He looked around at the state of his soldiers and fell to his knees. I could see him praying and smiled. I fled farther north on the same road Brent had followed.
Munsten grew larger and a small part of me recognised the city. The waterways and bays to the east had beautiful islands dotted here and there. It spoke to me at some level. My vision swam with memories. This is where I had grown up as a young child before I had been forced to flee with my mother. The massive castle rose high up in the centre and blocked and dwarfed everything else around it. It was huge and spread out to consume a third of the city. The smoke from thousands of cooking fires gave the city a cloud-like look and I swept around to the upwind part of the city down by the harbour. I spotted the invaders right away dressed in a sand coloured cloth that wrapped around their bodies. They stood out like white daisies on a field of green. I reached out with my senses and felt...nothing. They were there but were not tied to Gaea.
I recoiled in fright. I saw those nearest me stiffen and draw their strange curved swords. They turned and looked around searching for a threat. Several citizens moved clear in fright of the sudden drawing of steel. I backed away and retreated further when one man nearest me seemed to focus right on me. I fled the harbour and flew up into the castle. My link to myself back at the farm seemed stretched thin. I could feel that my draoi were straining now, but I had to see the Lord Protector who now called himself President. By some memory, I flew where I thought he should be. I flew faster and found him in elaborate chambers. He sat at a table with two other men dressed in the same garb as the invaders, one in sand and the other in black.
As I entered the one in black rose and turned to stare straight at me. Despite how he looked I recognised him for what he was--Erebus! He stood there wrapped in illusion. As before, I sensed nothing of him. Just an emptiness compared to all the surrounding life. Through the illusion, I saw a scar across his chest where Brent had struck him with his light. The Lord Protector stood up and looked where Erebus was focused. He said something to Erebus. This was my first time seeing Healy, and he looked older than I thought he would. His hair was thinning and grey and he looked gaunt and drained. This was the man that caused so much grief to the Realm. For a brief moment, anger surged in me and I considered striking him down but resisted that urge. A strong feeling of nausea reminded me of my bond with Gaea.
I felt my thread back to the farm shudder, and I realised that I was very exposed. Erebus must have sensed it at the same time as me. He lurched forward, and I pulled back. Erebus scowled as I exited the chambers. I wasted no time and pulled hard on the strand of life that connected me back to myself in the farm. The world blurred past at blinding speed. I felt the relief and joy in the draoi as I approached. My draoi guided me and eased me back into my body. I opened my eyes to find myself laying on my back on the kitchen table. Nadine held my hand and Steve looked down at me with worry etched in his face.
"Love, love, you're back. You're back," she collapsed on me before rearing back and thumping me on my chest. "Never do that again, you hear!" admonished my wife and she continued to bang my chest with a weak fist until she collapsed again over my body. Weakly I held her. My limbs and body felt foreign and strange.
"What did you do, Will?" asked Steve.
"I-I went travelling," I lifted my head to look at him. "I went to Jergen and saw the Baron. He is sitting fat and happy in his mansion. He doesn't appear to be heading north yet."
"It's too soon, he has to train his people. He'll be there for another few weeks. What else?"
"I saw Brent and James. They were heading to Curachan with a small band of military men and women. They were driving hard, too hard. Their armour was mismatched and their weapons in poor quality. All of them were not well and looked like escaped prisoners. Except Brent. He looked healthier than ever."
"Interesting. Do you know why they were heading to Curachan?"
I shook my head.
"Blast it. What's he up to, I wonder? Then what?"
"I went to Munsten. I saw the enemy." I turned my eyes to Nadine. "Erebus lives. He saw me. He is advising Healy. Disguised as someone from this eastern land."
Nadine gasped and covered her mouth. "We knew it didn't we? We now know for sure."
"There's more. I found the enemy in Munsten. They are not of the land, love. They're more like Seth. The ones I saw at least, and they could sense me."
Nadine looked defeated. "Sense you? That is unfortunate."
Steve looked back and forth between us. "What does that mean?"
I looked to Steve. "They are not of the land. The power of the draoi work only on the living. Erebus and this enemy—we cannot influence them. Our powers are nothing to them."
"Is there nothing you can do?"
"Yes, there is," I looked to Nadine. "I think we need to decide, love."
Nadine nodded. We reached out to the draoi and asked them what they thought. It was unanimous.
I looked at Steve and Franky. "We come with you to the North. The enemy of the land is our enemy. We will
help."
"I guess we need not convince them anymore," muttered Franky.
Steve smiled and took my hand to pull me off the table and on to my feet.
Sixteen
On the Road to Munsten - North of Jergen - August 901 A.C.
THE CARTS SLOWED Baron Andrew Windthrop's combined army down to a crawl and he was becoming more and more agitated. The mix of Jergen battalion members with his own Turgany regulars had proven difficult. Just getting the officers to agree to call themselves the Turgany Army had taken days. How hard can it be to march on a road or swing a sword? The Baron scowled at his newly promoted Turgany Army Commander, Colonel Robert Sibbald, as he rode up to join him. He had distinguished himself during the fighting in Jergen and the Admiral saw fit to promote him. The Admiral insisted he be absolved of his oath to Turgany in order to swear an oath to the Realm. I shouldn't have agreed. That man could be doing more, he thought. Instead, he spends all his time riding up and down the line.
The long train of soldiers, archers, cavalry, carts and horses went back beyond two miles. They had left Jergen two days ago and had only made it five miles to the North. It was a disaster, thought the Baron. We'll never make Munsten at this rate. The stops and starts had frustrated the Baron so much that he had ordered a small tent be established whenever they stopped so he could get a break from the sun. The Colonel had tried to talk him out of it but he had refused. Serves them all right. Why can't they just keep moving? Steve would have had this lot moving by now.
The Colonel cleared his throat, but the Baron chose to ignore him. He needs to speak up. He'll want to talk about logistics again, and by the Word, I am sick of this. And my ass hurts on this saddle. Why must the horse rock so much?
"Sir?" asked the Colonel in his soft, high-pitched voice. Too high for a man to have, thought the Baron. He hated it.
The Baron immediately thought of the Admiral. Their parting had been horrible, and he winced remembering it. He had been anxious to get on the road to claim his throne. The Admiral had urged caution and told him to listen to his officers. They had then argued and in a fit of pique, the Baron had slapped the Admiral. He had stunned himself with the act and had stood there staring at the Admiral. The last he saw of his lover was him rowing as fast as he could toward his ship-of-the-line. I was right though, I am the head of my Army, what I say goes. This is not a democracy.
Stoc (A New Druids Series Book 3) Page 23