by Tom Burton
© 2018 Tom Burton All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. ISBN 978-1-54394-719-9
Contents
Chapter 1: The Rain of Change
Chapter 2: The Cold Visions
Chapter 3: A Family Torn
Chapter 4: Lord of the West
Chapter 5: The Bridge
Chapter 6: The Tavern of the Three
Chapter 7: The Capital of Neroman
Chapter 8: A Royal Meeting
Chapter 9: The Fatal Quest
Chapter 10: Rebels of the Burnt City
Chapter 11: The Need for Vengeance
Chapter 12: The Northern Smoke Screen
Chapter 13: Dawn of War
Chapter 14: The Nameless Men
Chapter 15: The Honorable Killer
Chapter 16: Blood in the Ashes
Chapter 17: The Voice of Snow
Chapter 18: A Savior’s Welcome
Chapter 19: The Eastern Annihilation
Chapter 20: A Dance of Crowns
Chapter 21: A Conflicted King
Chapter 22: The Darkest Night
Chapter 23: The Broken Race
Chapter 24: A Duel of Fate
Chapter 25: The Silver Homecoming
Chapter 26: What Remains
Chapter 27: The Roar of the Lioness
Chapter 28: A New World Order
Chapter 29: Winds of Change
Chapter 30: A Light from the Shadows
Chapter 31: The Last Alliance
Chapter 32: The Price of Home
Chapter 33: The New King
Year 196 of the Third Age
As the full moon shines the night sky, and the clear bright stars watch over the run down Dock Town in the North of Neroman, restfully sitting on its shores. The peace and serenity of the night is shattered by the high-pitched screams of someone in pain. The screeching pierces the whole town, causing horses to neigh in fear and people to lift their heads from their tasks or their pillows. Soon after, the tower bell begins to ring. The man on watch in the tower swings a large wooden rod into the bell. The resounding tolling melds with the woman’s tortured screams, unsettling the inhabitants of the town even more than the screams alone.
Men in light armor run out of the building in response to the bell. One man climbs atop the wooden walls to look out beyond the front gate. He sees half a dozen riders storming toward the town.
“Open the gate!” The man orders, and two other men run to the front gate. They haul on the gate lever and it slowly opens. The riders storm through the gate and rein in their horses in the courtyard. The men at the gate close the gate as soon as all of the riders are inside.
The rider at the front, the Crown emblem emblazoned on his silver chest plate, dismounts.
“Where is she?” The man demands of one the guards. Before the guard can respond, the screams of the woman resume. The Crown man runs after the screams. The other riders slowly dismount and guide their horses to the stables.
Eventually, the man reaches the house from which the screams come and barges through the door. The man is met by two midwives, and one of them approaches him, hands held out as if to stop him.
“How is she?” The man asks nervously.
“She is almost there, but she is in pain!” the midwife replies. The man rushes to the sleeping chamber to find the screaming woman writhing on the bed. The man goes to her and takes her hand.
“Lucy?” The man whispers. Her eyes are closed, but they eventually open and look toward the man.
“Karl . . . is that you? Is that really you?” Lucy weakly asks. Karl smiles and nods.
“How are you feeling?” Karl asks, but Lucy rolls her eyes.
“I will punch you in the stomach, if that answers the question.” Lucy sternly replies.
Karl laughs. “In a few hours’ time, we will have a baby boy or girl,” he says, smiling joyfully. Lucy breathes heavily in distress, as she concedes to accept the pain she is receiving.
“Thank you . . . ,” Lucy whispers, as she begins to scream again. She tightens her grip on Karl’s hand.
Outside the house, two of Karl’s riders take up positions on either side of the entrance, standing guard over their commander and the woman inside.
“How did we not spot them before, Luther?” One of the guards asks the other.
The other guard gives a small shrug. “The king never has his soldiers venture this far north, Gared. Anything can be set afoot when no one is watching . . . I just can’t believe we lost so many,” replies Luther.
“Do you think we need to tell the king?” Gared asks.
“Did you not see what everyone else saw? This will change all of Neroman!” Luther snaps. “I just hope the King listens to his Lord Commander.” Gared is taken aback by the fear that he sees in Luther’s eyes. They speak no more as they settle into their guard positions.
Inside the house, Lucy’s labor pains peak. Karl’s hand bleeds where his wife’s fingernails dig into his flesh. Lucy’s stop abruptly, replaced by the small cries of a baby.
“Congratulations!” one of the midwives says joyfully as she swaddles the newborn baby in her arms. Karl beams at Lucy as she reaches out desperately for the baby. The midwife hands the baby over to Lucy carefully, tears in her eyes. Karl joins Lucy on the bed, and they gaze at the baby with delight.
“Is it a boy a girl or a boy?” Karl asks. Lucy pulls back the soft blankets.
“It’s a boy,” Karl whispers, swelling with emotion. Lucy wraps the blankets around the baby boy again.
The couple’s reverie is broken as the bell that signaled the arrival of Karl and his rider’s rings again. Karl steps to the window and looks toward the bell tower with worry. He calls to the midwives and says, “Stay with my wife.” As Karl gathers his cloak, Lucy reaches out to Karl.
“Where are you going?” Lucy whispers. Karl ignores Lucy’s question, instead he reaches for the table and takes a piece of parchment, and writes on it with a quil, once he finishes, he then seals it wit melted candle wax, he keeps hold of the sealed scroll and stalks out of the bed chamber. As Karl leaves the house, he turns to the two guards protecting the house.
“Did you cover our tracks?” Karl sternly asks them. When his question is met with silence, Karl’s fury spikes. He grabs Luther by his chest plate, and pulls him close. “You saw what they did to our men, and yet you still have no idea what they are a capable of! And now they are here, and they will kill everyone . . . my wife . . . my son.” Karl snarls. He lets go and rushes toward the barracks. The two soldiers fearfully follow Karl.
As Karl approaches the barracks, he calls out to the off-duty soldiers. “Soldiers, you hear the bells! Take up arms and man the walls!” Karl barks. The town soldiers grab their weapons and rush out of the barracks and up the wooden stairs to the walkway at the top of the walls. One of the soldiers takes up a horn from his side and blows, its clear call signaling all of the other soldiers to come to the town’s defense.
Before long, the town soldiers man the walls, looking out green plains that run down to the harbor town. Karl joins them on the parapets, his face grim in the torchlight. In the darkne
ss, he can just barely make out the shape of the rolling grassland, but he can see hundreds of torches in the distance, slowly coming closer.
Karl counts the men on the wall, coming to 50, his dozen well-girded soldiers and the local guard, armed with bows, spears, and a handful of swords. Turning to one of personal guards, he says, “There are not enough of us...”
“We have the walls, we can hold them off.” The guard reassures Karl, unsettled by his commander’s assessment. Before long, the men atop the wall hear growling in the darkness below them, and hooded figures sprint toward the wall.
“Archers, nock your arrows!” Karl shouts. There is a wooden clatter of arrows against bows as everyone follows his orders.
“Draw!” Karl continues, trying to make out what the shadows below him are doing. Karl holds the order to shoot, trying to gauge the enemy’s plan, and before he does so, a volley of arrows comes out of the darkness, some bouncing harmlessly against the stone parapets, some skittering across the stone walkway, others striking some of the men as they await Karl’s command.
“Loose!” Karl orders, and the archers launch their arrows into the darkness below them. With the higher position and the numbers of attackers below, the defenders kill more of the hooded figures than the other way around, but more of the hooded figures appear to replace the ones that have been shot.
“Fire at will!” Karl orders, and the exchange of arrows continues.
Karl marches along the wall, giving commands and cajoling the soldiers to stand firm. Karl steps up to his second in command,
“How many men do we have?” the man asks Karl.
“We are becoming fewer by the second,” Karl responds, looking not at the battle but at the town. He eyes the ships on the docks, and then turns back to the battle. Before he can say anything, the lumbering shadows of trebuchets take shape in the flat area outside the wall. Suddenly flames illuminate the field as the boulders in the slings of the trebuchets are somehow set alight. Hooded figures pull on levers, and the flaming loads are launched into the air. Karl can only stare as the burning rocks fly over the wall and into the town, crashing into houses and streets. Karl hears the screaming of women and children as they escape the burning houses.
“Fall back!” Karl orders. The soldiers turn to him in shock. “There are too many of them! The town is lost. Sound the horn, and pull everyone back! Do it now!” Karl snaps, and the man signals the bell tower with a flaming torch. The bells ring yet again.
“Fall back! Fall back!” The command is repeated along the parapet, and the remaining soldiers descend from the wall.
Karl descends from the walls and heads to the barracks, where he finds some of the soldiers picking up fresh weapons.
“Get everyone onboard the ships, and leave as soon as you can. Head west.” Karl orders, as the soldiers rush to re-supply. The sound of the wooden mechanics of the trebuchets outside the walls is audible in the barracks. Karl turns to see more flaming boulders fall among the homes and shops of the town, shattering buildings into kindling and setting fires among the wreckage.
“We must hurry!” Karl shouts at the soldiers. The men rush toward the buildings that are aflame to see if there are any innocents among them. The soldiers shepherd Dock Town citizens to the ships, where sailors and volunteers are quickly preparing to set off. The soldiers worked through the town quickly, ushering as many people onto the ships as possible. Before long, two of the three ships leave the docks and head for the West. The final ship awaits the remaining soldiers.
Over the crackling of burning buildings, Karl hears a creaking noise near the wall. A couple other soldiers nearby hear it as well, and they slowly turn back in the direction of the wall. The top of the wall looms above the buildings, lit from below by the burning town. The stone wall seems to swell in the light of the fires, then the wooden latticework inside the wall begins to snap as the wall crumbles before the war machines.
“They’re inside the walls! Hurry!” Karl shouts, breaking through the shock of the collapsing walls. Karl stands at the bottom of the gangway onto the final ship as the soldiers run to board the boat. Karl grabs one of the last soldiers and pulls her to aside.
“I need you to do something for me,” Karl asks the solider.
“Yes, sir,” she replies with a mix of steel and anxiety in her voice. Karl gives her a sealed piece of parchment.
“As soon as you get to the West, find the fastest horse and ride straight for the Capital. Give this message to the king,” Karl says.
The soldier nods vaguely. Karl shakes the soldier to make sure his command is clear. “Straight into the king’s hand. Not one of his servants, not one of his personal guard, not even to the queen. Only to the king himself!” Karl emphasizes.
“Yes, sir,” she replies more sternly, with a firm nod. Karl nods in return, and the soldier rushes onto the ship.
As Karl is about to board the ship, he hears the cries of a baby behind him. He runs across the dock, and when he turns a corner, he sees Lucy and their baby boy being carried by the two midwives. Horrified, Karl rushes to help them.
“I thought you were on one of the ships!” Karl says frantically. They all pause as they hear the sounds of approaching boots.
“Get to the ship!” Karl tells the midwives, lifting Lucy and the baby out of their arms. In a state of panic, the midwives rush to the ship.
“I am so sorry!” Karl says to Lucy as he carries her and the baby in her arms. Lucy only shakes her head, refusing his apology. As the sounds of the invaders come closer, they hide in the last building before the dock. They hear a foreign language surrounding them, and the sound of heavy boots getting louder. The sounds of the invaders recede, but then the screaming of women is heard. Lucy starts to cry softly, guessing that it is midwives who have been killed. Karl wraps his arms around her to console her.
“We cannot stay here. We must get to the ship before they leave us,” Karl whispers. Lucy nods, and the two share a kiss. Karl picks her up again and steps carefully out into the street.
They make it to the docks without seeing any invaders, but they see that the final ship is already a long way out into the harbor. Karl carefully sets Lucy down and grabs one of the torches from a stanchion on the dock. He rushes to the edge of the dock and waves the torch, attempting to signal the ship. It is no use. Karl turns back to see the flames spreading across the town, and the shouts in the unknown language of the invaders is only getting louder.
“Look there!” Lucy calls to Karl, pointing down toward the water a little farther along the docks. Karl moves to see what she has found and spots a small row boat tied at the bottom of a set of wooden steps descending from the dock. Karl rushes over to Lucy and picks her up with great care. He gingerly descends the steps and gently sets Lucy down in the small craft.
“Are you both alright?” Karl asks Lucy as he releases the rope tying the boat to the dock.
Lucy gently moves the folds of the blanket to check on the baby. “Yes,” she whispers, smiling as she looks at the infant despite her pain and panic. Karl, still on the last step of the dock stairs, smiles at her and then pushes the boat away from the dock. Lucy turns to see the boat moving away from him.
“What are you doing?” She asks, horrified.
“You need more time to get away from their weapons, so I’m going buy you some time.” Karl explains. He leaps back to the dock. He picks up wooden drum of oil and pours it all over the dock.
“Come with me now, we can still make it!” Lucy pleads, but Karl shakes his head.
“I won’t, but you two will,” Karl concedes as he picks up the torch he had used to signal down the ships, and walks away from the edge of the dock, toward the town. Lucy breaks down in tears.
“What shall we call him?” Lucy asks tearfully, holding their baby in her arms.
“I was thinking we should name him after your father,” Karl sugg
ests. The light from the flames catch in the tears filling his eyes.
Lucy smiles sadly. “I was thinking that as well, but you two never really got along, did you?” Karl and Lucy laugh at this, as tears stream down both their faces. Lucy wipes the tears from her face.
“Maybe, but he’d be so proud of you,” Karl calls to her as the tide pulls the row boat further away.
“I love you both so much,” Karl shouts.
“I love you, too,” calls Lucy.
Karl hears the sounds of the approaching invaders. With a final wave to Lucy, Karl drops the torch onto the oil-soaked dock, and then draws his sword.
Lucy watches through her tears as the hooded figures rush toward Karl. She sees his sword flashing in the light of the flames as they devour the old wood of the docks. The cracking of the massive timbers echoes across the water as the dock collapses and falls into the sea, but Lucy cannot see Karl or the invaders through the smoke. In shock, she lies down in the boat, cradling the baby next to her. As the sun rises, Lucy weeps uncontrollably while the tide continues to draw her into the sea, following the other ships.
Year 216 of the Third Age
As the fire spreads throughout the city, nothing but screams can be heard in all directions. Everything is blurry, as if his eyes can’t focus on anything. In spite of this, however, he can see women and children all over the floor. He can barely put a foot on the stone floor. Inside a building, fire quickly spreads across the wooden roof, until it gives way and the building collapses in on itself.
Suddenly, the twenty-year old wakes up, blinking in the light of the sun shining through the cracks in the rough wooden walls. Sweat is running from his forehead down neck. He has never experienced a dream that felt so real. Shaking off the feeling, he springs from his bed and grabs his clothes. He sighs as he puts his foot through the hole in his trousers. Once he is dressed, he dashes outside to meet with his father, Robert Silver, and his eight years-younger brother, Thomas. Aaron takes in the early morning around him, seeing no clouds in the air, just the sun on his left and the birds in the sky. As he reads his chores for the day, written on a torn piece of parchment that is tacked to a fence post, he smiles at the lovely day and gets started.