Tides of Blood and Steel

by Christian Warren Freed

  “Then I trust you have something useful to report.”

  “Potentially. I believe we’ve found a way to break the enemy’s hold on the mountain passes.”

  Badron listened as his general explained in detail. His face was grey from the lack of sleep and the predations of the Dae’shan. Secrets were killing him, but they were secrets that must be kept. He shuddered to think what might happen should anyone learn about his association with the emissaries of the dark gods. He soon found himself ignoring Rolnir’s estimates of collateral damage. His thoughts turned to his daughter and his hated brother. They were more trouble than either deserved. Damn the Dae’shan for even bringing it up. And now there was Harnin. His most trusted friend had betrayed him.

  Rolnir finished and asked, “Do you have anything else for me, Sire?”

  “No. You may leave now.”

  Badron waved him off, his mind already wandering dark corridors. The coming days were about to turn ugly; much uglier than he ever imagined in his lifetime.

  ELEVEN

  Anienam’s Tale

  “Well lad, looks like you’re going to get the chance to find out about that Pell Darga treasure after all,” Boen chided.

  Most of the others were sullen, hiding from the reality of what they were about to undertake. The world was changed. They had already dared to enter the growing hostility in what had once been a peaceful kingdom. Along the way they learned much about themselves. Some was good, some bad. And now they had embarked upon the grand quest. It was the culmination of their lives, a point in time that none would ever be able to recreate or relive in more than fragmented memories with declining age.

  Skuld looked over at the Gaimosian. “Somehow it doesn’t feel right.”

  “Times like this never do.”

  “How do you do it?” the boy asked.

  Boen shrugged. “A life like mine is not for the weak. I’ve killed and been hunted. I have no homeland. No family. I have nothing in this world except what you see.” He reached behind his back and drew his mighty broadsword. “This sword is my life. Without it I am nothing. Do you understand?”

  He didn’t.

  Boen continued, encouraged by the snort of his horse. “Battle is a Gaimosian’s life. To die of old age is an insult to the tradition of my people. We Gaimosians are a proud breed. The world is now our kingdom. There is no point in trying to escape it. Thinking otherwise is a waste of time. We are what fate has made us. Nothing more, nothing less. Be at peace with this and you will finally accept yourself for what you are.”

  Boen resheathed his sword and swung his gaze back to the road. He knew better than to believe his words had much impact on the boy. Skuld was too young to understand, too impressionable. Maybe that was a good thing. Too many people stumbled through life thinking they knew what was going on around them. Time and again he’d see those same people cut down in the prime of their ignorance. Boen was determined not to let that happen to Skuld. He liked the boy.

  “Living on the streets, I used to dream of being a great warrior,” Skuld quietly admitted. “Now I am not so sure. The world is not what I imagined it was.”

  Boen smiled softly. Fond memories of his own childhood drifted back to him. “Our dreams are always more reaching as children. The disappointment of adulthood robs us of that.”

  “We rescued the princess so shouldn’t we be heroes? Aren’t those men always revered as heroes?”

  “Sometimes,” Boen said and nodded. “Then again, it has been my experience that those things rarely happen. Most princesses have the good sense to stay home and live a normal life. Ours just happens to be a bit feisty.”

  Skuld laughed for the first time in weeks. It did him good, made him feel almost sane again. His thoughts had been much too foul lately. He had nothing else going for himself, and he was smart enough to know better than to abandon his newfound friends. Instinct pleaded with him to leave now and not look back. Skuld couldn’t. His friends were literally the only thing keeping him going. He needed them.

  Boen took a moment. “Don’t wrap your mind on such trivial matters. We’ll be in the mountains soon enough. Use this time to rest. You will have need of your strength soon enough.”

  “Thank you, Boen.”

  His words were genuine. The Gaimosian was like an older brother to him and Skuld valued his advice.

  “Don’t mention it. You would have done the same if our roles were reversed. Get some sleep, boy.”

  Boen urged his horse forward. A light snow drifted lazily across the sky. They were already a day out of Chadra and still hadn’t seen any sign of Harnin. Bahr was satisfied with the pace, but knew better than to let down his guard. They weren’t out of danger yet, and were only heading into even more in the days and weeks to come. One more day and they would arrive at Praeg. If Harnin hadn’t caught up to them by then, it was safe to assume he wasn’t going to.

  Praeg was by no means a safe haven, but it was far enough away from Chadra to relax his nerves a little. He planned on staying in the village just long enough to properly equip the team for a winter journey in the heart of the most dangerous mountains in northern Malweir. The mountains were still two weeks away and he wasn’t relishing the thought of what they were going to find once they got there.

  Bahr glanced over at the wizard. Anienam sat in the back of the wagon rereading his book. He regarded the little man with renewed interest. An oddity was an understatement. The wizard was dangerous.

  “Have you learned anything new?”

  Anienam looked up. “Eh?”

  “I asked if you’d learned anything new.”

  Bahr couldn’t exactly tell, but it appeared Anienam rolled his eyes. “None of this is new, Captain Bahr. This book is over a thousand years old. There are many mysteries in this life. Perhaps if men had better memories we would not be in this position now,” he cackled.

  Bahr snorted. “All of the damned people in this world, we are stuck with a grumpy old man on the edge of insanity! Can you just answer my questions without the games? I’ve grown weary of this.”

  He wasn’t in the mood for Anienam’s sarcastic comments and attitude. Today was not the day.

  “We all need a good sense of humor after all that has happened and for what is to come. Our test is not going to be easy.”

  Bahr glowered at him.

  “Believe me, I have a feeling that the level of violence we are about to witness is going to leave those of us who have the good fortune to survive scarred forever. Laugh, Bahr. Laugh while we still can.”

  There was an inherent threat tangled in his words, a threat big enough for Bahr to take notice. “What do you know?”

  “Nothing really. The text alludes to cataclysmic events, most of which do not concern us. The war these men fought in was one of the worst in our history. Their words are not encouraging.”

  “Which war?” Bahr asked.

  “The great Mage War. It was the one war that almost destroyed Malweir. The death toll was in the hundreds of thousands. It was by sheer fortune that any survived.”

  The Mage War. It was well known to every race, a dark time in everyone’s past that was almost their demise. Bahr couldn’t begin to guess why Anienam was the only one of them with fond memories. The war was the height of human vanity. Mages brought Malweir to the edge of ruin and were wiped out themselves for their sins. He believed it was better that much power should not be allowed to run free as it was clear that no one was able to control it. Bahr found himself with grave misgivings about the future. Anienam was the progeny of those Mages and an enigma. He might turn on them in a fit of madness.

  “That war is ancient history. The Mage order is no more,” Bahr replied. “What does the book say about the hammer? What is it supposed to do?”

  “The book doesn’t get that far. I believe these men all died before they were able to use it,” Anienam replied seriously. He bore a dour expression. The implications for the future were severe and all but a few were bad.
/>   Bahr said nothing. Best to let the man keep talking while was in the mood.

  “The Blud Hamr is a token of power. There have been many such tokens over the course of time. The most famous of which was the cracked crystal of Tol Shere and, of course, the fabled star silver sword, Phaelor. It was Phaelor that finally destroyed the crystal and ended the war. The Elves took it back, you know. They feared it falling into the wrong hands. A shame, really. The sword always chooses its master.”

  “The hammer,” Bahr gently urged.

  The wizard snapped back into focus. “The Blood Hammer is rumored to have been made by the gods of light back when the world was young. They knew the schism coming and made certain moves to defend themselves.”

  “What would a god need to defend himself from? Aren’t they all the same?”

  “There is no reference for an answer. Most of what we knew about the gods and their ilk was lost when the libraries at Ipn Shal burned. I do not know what powers the hammer bears, but the Giant clans will have the answers. There are no finer smiths in the entire world.”

  Bahr’s heart slowed. Hope diminished. “Are you suggesting that we are about to go to war with the gods and we do not know what we are doing?”

  “Encouraging, isn’t it?”

  “Give me a straight answer.”

  Anienam let out a steady breath. “The future is hidden. I would say there is a very real possibility that we are overmatched.”

  The words were a hammer stroke. Bahr felt as if a thunderstorm had broken across the horizon, leaving him helpless. “Then we go to our doom.”

  It was Anienam’s turn to be irritated. “Keep that opinion to yourself. We do not know what tomorrow holds. Our future is still in our hands so long as we keep faith.”

  “Faith is a difficult concept to maintain when you whisper of death,” he protested.

  “Ha! When did you start listening to me?”

  Bahr had to smile at that. Anienam was a crazy old man, about as cracked as Bahr’s own father had been. It made this whole affair both easier and more difficult. Bahr waggled an accusing finger. “You are the one who got me into this mess in the first place. Listening to you took us down this dark road. Now if you don’t mind telling me, what do we do when we get this hammer of yours?”

  “If I knew that the task would be much easier.”

  Damnation, Bahr growled. We truly are in trouble.

  Dorl Theed glanced at the two bickering old men and shook his head.

  “What do you suppose they are squabbling about this time?” he asked.

  Nothol didn’t bother to look. “Who knows? Both of them should be on a front porch watching the grass grow.”

  “Doesn’t really say much about us, following them all over the world.”

  “We are getting paid for it.”

  Dorl gave his friend a sharp look. “I haven’t been paid yet. The job we were hired to do ended with us in a dungeon and being tortured. All we are doing now is running for our lives.”

  “Bahr is not responsible for that. We didn’t know the girl was his niece until it was too late to do anything about it,” Nothol reminded. “He will do us right.”

  “I will keep my doubts about that.”

  Nothol wasn’t in the mood to argue. And, quite frankly, he was tired of Dorl’s darkening attitude. The man was slowly breaking down. That change began in Harnin’s dungeon. It was by far the worst experience either had ever been through. Nothol had been able to put it behind him, Dorl couldn’t. It was the fact he didn’t know how to help his friend that hurt the most.

  “We are still alive. That is all I can ask for.”

  Dorl disagreed. “For now.”

  Nothol finally snapped. “Enough already! You have been wallowing in self-pity and misery since we escaped. Get over it. It happened and is already behind us. Your mood is starting to turn cancerous.”

  Anger flashed. “You’re a real son of a bitch sometimes.”

  Nothol Coll actually smiled. “Thank you. Stop trying to change the subject, Dorl. We need you back to form.”

  He skillfully avoided the budding relationship between Dorl and Rekka. That in itself was strange, though not entirely unexpected. The two seemed to have an instant connection from the moment she boarded the Dragon’s Bane. Nothol tried to rationalize that it was the stress of the situation and the intensity of their task that forced the pair together. It was weak at best, but he didn’t want to think any more on it. The lucky bastard.

  “Do you see what Ionascu has become?” Dorl asked quietly.

  “Yes,” Nothol replied.

  “He scares me. Not what he is, but how he became it.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Dorl shrugged. “He scares me because I can see myself slipping into the same role. I have hate in my heart, Nothol. I want to kill Harnin. I want to destroy everything he stands for. I am afraid. Afraid I might lose me and become like Ionascu.”

  “I won’t let that happen,” Nothol reassured.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I will beat you within an inch of your life first,” he laughed.

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  Nothol shook his head now. “No. Besides, you’d probably go running to your girlfriend to help you.”

  His cheeks flushed. “You know about that?”

  “I think Bahr might be the only one who doesn’t.”

  Dorl was at a loss for words. He still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened between him and Rekka. He’d been tired and trying to go to sleep when she slipped under the warmth of his blanket. He certainly enjoyed the experience, but he still wanted to know why. Making love to the strange southern woman might well have been the greatest moment in his relatively young life, especially considering the fact she had ignored every advance he had made on her beforehand.

  “Look, I…” he began.

  Nothol held up his hands. “You don’t need to explain anything to me. I’m your friend, not your father.”

  Dorl smiled warmly. “Thank you.”

  “You could tell a friend how good she was,” Nothol said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

  “I think it would be safer if I didn’t,” Dorl replied. “For the both of us.”

  Both men laughed. It was a much needed break from their desperate reality. Dorl idly wondered if that was what had happened last night. She might have seen the depth of his building despair and acted. The idea was absurd, but he liked it and decided to stick with it until she admitted otherwise.

  Nothol continued, his voice lower so as not to be overheard. “Do me one small favor though. Try not to make so much noise the next time. Some of us need our sleep.”

  “I can’t make any promises.”

  Rekka Jel listened to them from the front of the wagon. Her face remained impassive despite the potential embarrassment. Her actions were for reasons only she would ever know. Perhaps it had been a onetime thing, perhaps not. Time would tell. The wagon rolled on.

  TWELVE

  Praeg

  Praeg was a tiny village of no real importance. Planners once tried to build it up and make it a rival to mighty Chadra in the west. The idea never took off. People had no interest in living in the middle of nowhere. Then the second class, undesirable citizens, arrived. Most sought escape from the attention of the authorities. Cutthroats and criminals, the majority of the village, were the sort to stay away from. Bahr could care less. Praeg was far from a natural water source and in a borderland area that no one wanted to claim.

  “Bahr, are you certain we need to stop here?” Dorl asked. “There are other villages along the way, ones where we won’t draw attention or have to deal with major issues.”

  “Have you seen our merry group of travelers? We don’t exactly blend in,” Nothol leaned over and whispered.

  Bahr wasn’t amused. “No. This is the one place Harnin won’t dare send his troops. Not unless he wants to send enough to pacify it.”

  �
��It is also the place he’ll think to look first. His spies might already be here.”

  “That may be, but you and I both know what type of village this is. Harnin’s spies won’t get far.”

  Skuld’s concerns overrode his caution. “Where are we going?”

  “To Praeg, boy. A one-road village where your darkest dreams’ deepest desires can come true,” Bahr said matter-of-factly.

  Dorl cocked his head at the embellishment. “Don’t you think that’s a little dramatic for him?”

  The Sea Wolf cracked a grin. “Nonsense. Those are the same words my father told me when I was but a lad.”

  “Maybe it has changed since then,” Skuld offered hopefully. He was almost at the breaking point as far as adventures were concerned.

  “No,” Bahr answered. “This is the kind of village where you mind yourself and don’t ask questions. All of the scum from civilized parts come here. We don’t want trouble here, not now leastwise.”

  Boen let out a bellowing laugh. “This sounds like my kind of place!”

  Dorl looked at Nothol and said, “This is madness. It’s like a race to see who is going crazy first.”

  “We might as well get it over with then,” Nothol replied.

  “Boen and I will take care of everything. The rest of you stay out of sight. The last thing we need is more trouble,” Bahr told them all.

  Only Ionascu and Anienam didn’t seem to mind. One had already seen too many horrors and the other wasn’t interested in anything but that damned book. That was fine with Bahr. He felt like more of a caretaker than a grown man. His heart longed for the days when he was alone again. Life was more peaceful that way. Still, he had a good group assembled and they offered his best chance of success at stopping his brother. He noticed Maleela’s burning glare and cringed inwardly at the similarity between her and Badron.

  “Not this time, Niece,” he said and stood his ground.

  Not the words she wanted to hear. “No, Uncle. I am a princess of Delranan. I will not hide in the shadows while my friends earn their keep. I want to be a part of this.”