The Book of One: A New Age

by Jordan Baker

  Aaron felt his feet lift off the wagon slightly as his center of gravity shifted and the wagon began to gather speed as it plummeted downward. The horses were running fast, but the weight of the wagon was propelling it faster down the hill, pushing them. One of them lost footing and fell, dragging the other three horses with it. Aaron leapt from the wagon, aiming as best as he could for an area of smaller brush.

  He tried to hold the princess in his arms as he felt his shoulder hit the ground, but the force of the impact tore her away from him. The world spun as he tumbled through the trees and a loud crash resounded through the forest as the wagon smashed into splinters. The last thing he saw was Ariana's unconscious form getting caught in the dark green branches of a tree, her body twisting unnaturally and looking like a lifeless doll. He continued tumbling down the hill and lost sight of her before he felt himself slam hard into something and the world faded to black.

  Above, at the edge of the ravine, the two remaining soldiers dismounted where the wagon had run off the steep drop. They peered down through the trees and saw the wagon and the horses now a mess of tangled hooves, broken legs and blood, awash with fire as the remains of the wagon burned atop them.

  “Should we go down and make sure?” one of them asked. The other man shook his head.

  “No one could survive that. Best head back, it looks like we’re in for a storm and we’d be smart to get out of the mountains. This pass will be closed by tomorrow and no one will be coming along until spring. They're dead either way.

  "Our orders were to make sure," said the first man.

  "How do you suppose we get down there? It’d take half a day, just on foot. Look how thick the trees are.” He pulled his bow from where it hung by the saddle of his horse. "Let’s empty our quivers and see if we can hit them. It’s supposed to look good.”

  The other man agreed and they let fly the last of their arrows. Far below, as the arrows thudded into the ground nearby, Aaron’s eye opened a crack and he found he could not move. He felt himself bleeding and knew at least that he was still alive. He tried to move his head to see if the princess had survived, but the effort made his head swim and he lost consciousness again. The arrows stopped and, satisfied that their quarry was dead, the two traitorous soldiers remounted their horses and headed back to the road, the way they had come. An angry wind howled behind them as they made their way out of the mountains and the snow began to fall more heavily, covering the world in a thick white blanket.

  *****

  Some time later, down among the trees, Aaron painfully opened his eyes to discover that night had fallen. Heavy snowflakes fell silently through the darkness and Aaron found himself covered with a thick layer of snow. The familiar ache in his head was made worse by the searing pain and throbbing of countless bruises and injuries that covered him. He caught the scent of burnt wood and charred flesh and remembered the horses and the flaming wagon crashing through the trees. Then he remembered; the princess.

  Aaron winced as he tried to move. His ribs hurt as he rolled to his side and pushed his head off the ground. He remembered having been cut by branches and he felt his shoulder where he was sure he had received a heavy blow in the fall. He tried to move his leg but it would not respond. It was numb. He looked down and saw a long arrow shaft had gone through his upper thigh.

  His trousers were soaked in blood. The arrow would have to come out but he did not know how much blood he had lost and this worried him. He was already feeling light-headed from the loss of blood. Aaron tore a piece of cloth from the front of his tunic and quickly tied it around his upper leg. Grimacing with pain, he broke the arrow then pushed the shaft out the front of his leg. Blood poured out onto the wet ground and melted the thin layer of snow. His head hurt more with the exertion but the pain in his leg distracted him from it. He tore another strip from his shirt and tied it tight around the wound. Aaron saw dark spots in the corner of his vision and steadied himself as he nearly fainted again. He slowed his breathing and gritted his teeth. Where was Ariana?

  Aaron pushed himself onto his good leg and limped up the hill, looking for the princess. Not far from where he had awoken, he caught sight of a piece of her grey riding cloak hanging from a branch, then he saw her. Her body lay motionless, caught in the branches of a small, thick evergreen. He climbed up to her, hoping that she lived. Aaron felt the humming in his head increase as he approached her. He saw a small puff of mist in the cold air, coming from her mouth and nose, and her face was covered with soot and ash. He was relieved that she was breathing. He gently pulled her off of the tree and laid her on the ground. His headache was returning with a vengeance and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open as the world reeled. He took a deep breath and knelt beside her. One of her arms was bent around in a frightful direction. She whimpered as he straightened it and her breathing became shallow.

  Aaron worried that more than her arm was hurt. Her skin felt cold to the touch and her clothes were soaked through from snow that had melted. From his own survival skills, he knew that getting injured while exposed out in the woods was bad enough, but getting cold without shelter would make things worse. He hoped that there was a way to help her and when he thought of helping Ariana, the pain in his head grew stronger. Strange. The wizard Calthas had said that Aaron had some power in him, magic like his own but that it was blocked. Aaron had heard of mages healing the sick or injured and wondered if he might try. The only problem was, he did not know how to use his power or whether he could at all. He remembered when she had tried touching his mind. Maybe that had something to do with it. He would have to try. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

  Strangely, he found he could still see. Surprised, he opened his eyes again and blinked. Everything around him appeared strange as his vision shifted, now augmented by the magical power he felt welling within him. The forest was shrouded in a kind of mist that was not there before but he could see the life in every branch and every needle of the great evergreens around him. He concentrated harder and things came into an even sharper focus.

  He looked at Ariana lying before him on the ground. He could see a kind of energy flowing through her body, the blood in her veins coursing with the rhythm of her pulse. He focused on her arm and could see a faint warmth radiating from her skin and the muscle and flesh beneath it. In the place where her arm was broken he could see a darker red glow where the muscle was inflamed and torn and he could see where the bone had broken sharply and had pushed through the skin of her upper arm. He could see her lifeblood slowly seeping out of the wound, its glow fading as it met with the cold air outside her veins. A yellowish tinge around the wound told him that the first signs of infection had begun to set in and he could see her body doing what it could to repair the damage, but losing the battle.

  He looked at the rest of her, fascinated with this mysterious sight, and he could also see two places that were yellow-like in colour on the side of her chest. Two of her ribs were cracked as well. He would have to deal with those later. Her legs were miraculously unharmed and the rest of her body appeared to be intact except Aaron noticed a glow around the princess' soot-covered face. He picked up a handful of snow and gently brushed it across her cheek, revealing an angry-looking burn. It looked as though she had been lashed by a whip made of fire and, with the magical sight that allowed him to see the energy of her body, Aaron could tell that some kind of oily substance had buried itself in the skin of her face. It looked as though her body was already healing itself in that place more successfully than her other injuries.

  Aaron took another look at her arm. The bone was cracked at an angle and it was splintered in a place, pushing through the skin. With his finger, he pushed the bone back into her the flesh of her arm and directed it back into the place where it should be. Holding her arm, tightly, he set the bone straight again and then, remembering the feeling he had when the princess had touched his mind, he thought about the bone healing and, in a way, told it to. He drew in a sharp breath in surprise a
s he saw energy flow from his hands and watched the bone pull together and the yellowish tinge recede, replaced by a healthy red with white energy flowing freely through her arm once more. He saw the gash in her arm begin to heal as well and the bleeding stopped altogether.

  The humming in his head was now replaced by a pounding. It was clear that using his power was going to cause him more pain but he had to try. Gritting his teeth, he focused his thoughts again. His mind reached into her body and saw the pieces that were out of place, the bruised and broken flesh around her ribs and the place where one of them had punctured her lung. Aaron could feel her heart beating weakly. He focused on the place where the rib had pushed through to her lung and told it to move and watched as it slowly moved back into place. He told her body that the colour was wrong and watched as the yellow color receded and was replaced by a healthier hue. The noise in his head was almost unbearable now. He saw her ribs straighten as he pushed them with his mind and he watches his own energy flow toward her heart urging it to beat now a little stronger. Finally, unable to withstand the pain, he fell backwards, letting go of her as a blinding light hit his mind. The dark clouds rolled in on him again and he lost consciousness once again.

  *****

  A black bird flew through a window in one of the high towers of the castle. Dakar, weary from the extended use of his power, shuffled over to where the bird perched on the arm of a heavy wood chair. He reached out his hand and the bird hopped onto it. Dakar felt the power he had given the bird flow back into him and its memories flooded his mind. He swore, somewhat disappointed. He had not completely succeeded in his task. He had wanted to see the dead body of the princess, to parade it through the streets of the Maramyrian capital and to have a funeral at the palace to publicly mourn her death, but after using his power to discover what the bird had seen, he was satisfied. The bird had witnessed the princess' fall and had seen her lifeless corpse tangled in the trees before it had flown back to him. It was enough.

  At least the king would be pleased, especially now that he truly was king and no longer merely a regent. Dakar had suspected that Cerric might do something like this and, while the regent-king had not entrusted him with the details of his little plot to do away with his niece, it suited both their purposes. Cerric was a fool. He had told his soldiers to kill the princess while on the road, but he had not told them how. Dakar had learned of the plot and met with the soldiers just before they had left, giving them additional instructions, adding particular details that would allow the princess' death to be blamed on the Kandarans. He had sent one of the mage-priests under his command with orders to follow the princess' party and to provide the necessary items to the soldiers that would provide proof of Kandaran involvement. This would not only make Cerric the true and unchallenged King of Maramyr, but it was almost sure to start a war with Kandara.

  Dakar knew that Cerric would relish the opportunity for battle and he had already shown great interest in the Xallan Queen. It would require but the gentlest of nudges for them to agree to commit their countries to attack the mountain kingdom to the north. The Kandarans bothered Dakar and most of the Priesthood, for the religion of the book had never been able to take root in that land the way it had in the others. Partly it was made difficult because there were very few Kandarans who were mages in the traditional sense, and those who had power similar to magic had proved resistant to the effects of the book. Also, the Kandarans did not worship the old gods the way the people of Maramyr did, so it was impossible to supplant their beliefs with the new religion of the book, of the one god. No matter, thought Dakar. Soon, Kandara would lay in ruins and the kingdom of Maramyr and the Xallan Empire would be joined under the guidance of the Priesthood. Once that was complete, and with the coming of the one god, the rest of the world would fall as well.

  *****

  Lord Carlis was just about to compliment the Lady Valamyr on her lovely new brooch when a servant intruded upon the pleasant dinner they had been enjoying. Elaine gestured for the white-robed man to approach, wondering what would be important enough that her orders that she was not to be disturbed would be disobeyed.

  “What is it?” she sighed with seeming nonchalance, though her impatience was evident in her steely gaze. The servant glanced nervously from Lady Valamyr to Lord Carlis.

  “A visitor, Senior Captain Nathas wishes a word with Lord Carlis, milady,” the man said, hoping he had chosen correctly when he had made the decision to interrupt his lady's dinner. The commanding soldier, who was currently stalking his way around the outer courtyard, had been very insistent. He hoped that his lady would not be upset. Carlis nodded and Lady Valamyr sighed again, wondering what would bring the Senior Captain of the Academy to visit.

  “Show him in," she told him. "And bring some wine for the man.” The servant quickly exited the room quickly debating whether to get the wine or the guest first.

  “I wonder what would bring Nathas around at this hour,” Carlis commented. Their dinner had started late and they had also taken their time about it. A few moments later, Ehlena appeared with Captain Nathas in tow. Both Elaine and Carlis stood when he entered.

  “I was on my way to the kitchen and bumped into Michael, ” said Ehlena, making sure to mention her aunt's servant by name, her own little protest at the way Lady Valamyr treated the help. “He will be bringing wine for two more.” She took a seat next to her aunt, who sat down again and gestured for Nathas to sit at one of the chairs near Carlis. Nathas, however, was more in a mood to stand and Carlis kept his feet as well.

  “What brings you to the house of Valamyr Captain Nathas?” Carlis had to ask. Nathas frowned.

  “It seems there has been some trouble,” he said. Nathas stared at the faces of the people seated around the table. He knew Carlis well and Lady Valamyr and her niece were known to be honest folk. He also knew, from his own sources, that Aaron was friends with the niece, Ehlena, so he figured it was good that they were all together for the news he brought.

  Nathas accepted the wine brought in by the overly-polite servant and began his story. He told them of the royal princess’ unpublicized trip to Blue Island and of how two of the soldiers in her entourage had returned to Maramyr without her, having been attacked and barely escaping with their lives. They claimed that a group of Kandarans had set upon them as they passed through the lower mountains to the west. They said that their Captain, a young man named Aaron, fresh from the Academy and known to be a friend of the Kandaran prince, had turned on them and attacked the princess. It was suspected that the raiding party had been led by Prince Borrican who had left Maramyr only a day after Princess Ariana. Under Cerric’s orders, the Maramyrian Army would be mobilizing and he planned to mount an attack against Kandara in the spring. Carlis was the first to object while Elaine and the girl, Ehlena, sat listening quietly.

  “That is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard,” Carlis said. “But what of the princess?”

  “She and Aaron apparently fell from a large precipice during the attack. One of them said he saw their bodies broken on the rocks and trees below, but there was no way they could get to the princess,” Nathas told them.

  “Did they not try?” Lady Valamyr asked. Nathas shook his head.

  “They were under attack by the Kandarans who outnumbered them rather badly.” Nathas repeated the story and frowned. Carlis gave him a look to match.

  “The whole thing stinks,” Carlis said, wondering how freely he could speak with the Senior Captain of the Academy.

  “I agree.” Nathas nodded. “Kandaran raiders? Maybe. The Kandaran prince? Not likely. He and the princess were close friends, and I know that boy and his uncle, the Duke. They are as honorable as the day is long. I don’t know much about the rest of Kandara, but their nobles are some of the most honor-bound people I have ever met. As for young Aaron? I simply can’t believe he would do such a thing.” Nathas took a gulp of the strong wine, wondering if he had said too much.

  “I know Aaron, and I can assu
re you he would never do such a thing,” Ehlena said flatly. “He may not be of noble blood, but he’s probably one of the most noble people I have ever met. He saved my life.”

  Carlis nodded in agreement.

  “And he comes of good stock. You remember Tarnath as well as I do. Despite what Cerric has tried to insinuate about him over the years, that man was the most loyal protector of the royal family,” Carlis commented. “If his nephew was anything like him, and I truly think he was, I don’t believe it is possible that he would do such a thing.”

  Carlis scratched his head. The whole story bothered him, but Elaine was the first to say what they had all been putting off.

  “So princess Ariana is dead,” she said. “And Cerric will be king.” Nathas nodded. Lady Valamyr pursed her lip and laughed shortly. “How convenient for him.”

  That was the closest any of them came to actually saying what they all believed. It would be prudent from here on out to be very careful what one said, and in what company. Nathas confided that he did not think that Carlis’ recommendation of Aaron for the Academy would be an issue since he had accidentally dropped the sponsorship letter into a fiery hearth just moments after he had heard the news and just before he escorted several guards from the palace who had asked to search the room Aaron had stayed in.

  As for Aaron’s association with Ehlena and her aunt, despite it not being widely known, both Nathas and Carlis agreed that it would be best for the Valamyrs to spend some time away from the city. Lady Elaine was less than pleased at what this would mean for Ehlena’s prospects but she had a difficult time placing blame on the young man who had saved her niece’s life, not so long ago. The Valamyrs were one of the oldest families in the kingdom and, with Cerric unmarried and without an heir as of yet, it would soon become dangerous to be of high nobility. If what they all suspected, but were unwilling to say out loud, were true, it would not be unlikely for Cerric to arrange for unfortunate accidents to befall those who might challenge his position as king.