Do the Gods Give Us Hope?

by Jeff Henrikson

  Lidea responded casually. “What do you think?”

  Nero poked his head out just enough to see what was going on, so he wouldn’t miss his chance. He saw Lidea moving slowly toward the guard, with her hips doing all the talking. Nero only saw one guard. When next she spoke, her voice was so seductive that Nero almost lost himself in the moment.

  “But first, a little present for your attentiveness sir.”

  She raised her right hand and ran it down the guard’s neck, shoulder, and arm. She seemed tender and vulnerable as she took the guard’s hand into her own. The guard let himself be walked backward until they were at the next intersection. Then Lidea spun the guard playfully around, and out of Nero’s sight.

  Nero wondered where the second guard had gone but didn’t waste any time as he left the relative safety of the passage and moved into the hallway. He purposely left the Mistress Passageway open. The last thing he saw as he approached the King’s door was Lidea pressing her irresistible body up against the guard. He opened the King’s door slowly and moved inside.

  As he closed the door, he heard the guard say, “What, that’s it?”

  Lidea said, “I’m afraid I have to save myself for the Prince.” Then the door was shut, and Nero heard no more. He wondered why there had only been one guard stationed at the King’s door when Lidea had expected two, but ultimately Nero didn’t have time to contemplate his good fortune, as it was one less problem he had to solve.

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  Mestel moved forward with a rock in one hand and Austen’s invisible hand in the other. He planned to throw the rock against the back wall to distract the two guards who had moved up to the second checkpoint, but he never got that close.

  *****

  As he approached the guards, his vision suddenly went dark. An instant later, he was in a large bedroom facing a stone wall. He wondered where he was as he turned around to look at the rest of the room. As he scanned the room he just caught a glimpse of someone moving through a doorway off to his left and shutting it behind him. Mestel was about to run after whoever just left the room when his eyes beheld something that shook him to his core. Across the room was the bed where the King and Queen of Kentar slept – except the King was dead. He had been stabbed in the chest by an assassin’s blade. Fresh blood poured out of the wound and soaked the royal sheets. Amazingly, the Queen still slept peacefully next to her dead husband – so silent was the assassination. Mestel could only stare at the life-changing scene in front of him.

  In the past, the fear induced by seeing such a morbid death might have paralyzed him into inaction, but in this instance, he managed to look away from the scene and think clearly for a moment. The blood was fresh. The murder had just occurred. The person he saw leaving the room just as the vision began must have been the assassin.

  Mestel ran to the door and threw it open with reckless abandon. He ran into the hallway looking frantically for some sign of the intruder, but he saw nothing. He bent over to look for any tracks left on the stone floor. Even though the floor was hard as a rock, and well-trodden on, Mestel knew he would be able to track the killer, but he never had the chance.

  His vision went completely dark once again. When his sight returned to him, he had an eagle-eye view of a field of tall grass adjacent to the beginnings of a forest. The scene was quiet; nothing moved. Suddenly, the serenity was broken by war horns in the distance. Mestel watched from high above as humans rose up from the tall grass and charged toward the forest. The humans wore armor ranging from thick cloth to breast plates. They wielded weapons ranging from maces, to swords, to bows. The humans held the banner of Kentar high as they rushed forward. Just as the charge began, a barrage of flaming arrows flew out of the forest and crashed into the human lines. Scores of humans fell to the ground, many of them mortally wounded, as the sea of humanity rushed forward. Mestel heard a warrior’s cry echo among the trees, followed by an army of elves that rushed forward flying the banner of a tree silhouette backed by the rising sun. The two armies clashed headlong into each other as the scene faded from Mestel’s mind, only to be replaced by a battlefield littered with dead bodies on both sides. Martel’s message was clear – if the King of Kentar died, thousands of elves were going to die needlessly in a vicious war with Kentar.

  *****

  The vision ended, and he was back in Jewlian Castle with two of the King’s bodyguards in front of him. Having received instructions directly from his god, and knowing time was of the essence, Mestel threw the rock in his hand against the back wall fifteen feet away. He angled the toss so the rock bounced off the back wall and rebounded a few times down the hall to the right. At this point, the two guards at the second checkpoint had heard enough. They both drew their swords and turned on their heels to see what was happening. The Sergeant on the left tapped his companion on the shoulder and motioned for him to check it out. As the guard disappeared around the corner, Mestel made his move.

  He rushed forward as fast as he could silently manage while holding Austen’s hand. Just as he squeezed by on the left side, the lone guard at the checkpoint took a step backward and brushed Mestel with his arm. Mestel hit the arm with his hand and became instantly visible. The Sergeant turned around to see what he had run into and was shocked to see an elf barely two feet away.

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  Nero turned around and took in the royal bedchamber of the King and Queen of Kentar. A fire burned in the hearth, and a candle was burned halfway down on the end table next to the bed. There was no doubt the apartment was spacious and finely decorated, but it didn’t hold a candle to the Guildmaster’s quarters in Locus. Seeing the apartment proved to Nero once again that power and information were the true currencies of the world. Once the deed was done, the Guildmaster would see how indispensable he was to the Talon Guild.

  Nero moved over to the bed and drew his dagger. The King was sleeping face up while the Queen slept on her side, facing away from the King. Looking down, it all seemed to easy. He would plunge the dagger into the King’s lungs to prevent him from screaming out and walk out of the room without the Queen even waking up. Child’s play.

  As Nero looked down at the helpless King, his thoughts turned away from what he stood to gain and toward what everyone else stood to lose. For the first time in his life he was having second thoughts. What had this man done to deserve death? He was a good King by all accounts. Was he only guilty of presiding over the kingdom adjacent to the Talon Thieves Guild? If he died, there would be no one to stop the upcoming war between the elves and the humans. Did he have the right to sacrifice thousands of lives just so he could increase his standing with the Guild in order to take revenge against the Krone? He thought of Mestel and how at peace he seemed with himself and his god. That was ultimately what he wanted. Would committing this murder give him a closer relationship with Venal?

  _______________________________________

  Mestel and the guard stared at each other in disbelief. One wondering what to do now that his invisibility was gone; the other how someone could appear directly in front of him out of thin air. Mestel let go of Austen and shoved the guard with both hands. The guard fell onto his back while yelling for help. Mestel rushed forward and dashed around the corner, leaving the fallen guard behind, only to run headlong into the sword of a third guard.

  The King’s door was only thirty feet down a passageway to the right, while the Prince’s door was forty feet in front of him. Mestel had been forced to pull up and stop his advance when he saw a guard standing ready in the middle of the hallway, with the point of his sword tracking him. He frantically thought about how he could get around the guard without the element of surprise, unarmed, and knowing that these were some of the best swordsmen in all of Tellus. His hesitation cost him dearly as two guards came up on him from behind with swords ready.

  Mestel put his hands up in surrender and yelled out, “You have to let me go! The King is about to be murdered
!”

  ______________________________________

  Nero paused over the King’s sleeping form, not certain he could go through with his original plan. Then he heard a guard yelling outside and men running through the hallway. Nero’s mind went into overdrive as the King and Queen both awoke to the sudden noise. The King bolted upright and saw Nero standing poised next to him.

  The King recognized him and said, “What are you doing here?”

  In answer to his question, Nero plunged his dagger into the King’s chest. He twisted the blade to ensure the kill and then withdrew the bloody weapon. The King stared at his chest for a moment and then fell back down as blood began to spread across the sheets.

  Outside in the hallway, Nero heard someone yell, “The King is about to be murdered!” and thought it sounded like Mestel.

  The Queen sat up and opened her mouth to yell, but Nero was faster. He slashed his knife across her throat and made for the door before the Queen’s body even hit the floor. For better or worse, Nero had accomplished the job he came there to do.

  _______________________________________

  Three guards held Mestel at sword point. The three looked at each other for a moment and decided killing Mestel was the safest course of action. One of the rear guards moved forward, intent on running him through. Suddenly, magic ricochet off the stone walls and all three guards visibly relaxed, replacing their life and death expressions with huge smiles. It was almost like they had suddenly become so intoxicated and stupid that they could barely stand. Mestel looked past the guards to see Austen standing close by, his invisibility cloak lost when he attacked the three guards with his wizardry. Mestel nodded at him in understanding, then pushed past the three guards.

  He ran around the corner and threw open the door to the King’s chamber. It was immediately obvious that he was too late. The King and Queen were both dead. He ran over to the bed and checked each of them to make sure as Austen entered the room.

  Austen walked forward in shock. “Gods have mercy. What has happened here?”

  Mestel looked up with fresh blood on his hands. “We were too late.”

  After what seemed like a long time, Lieutenant Capstone ran into the room with a host of bodyguards behind him. He looked at the King and Queen and staggered forward in disbelief. “What have you done?”

  Mestel said, “We did nothing. I tried to tell your men the King was still in danger, but you chose not to believe me. Now everyone will suffer because of your shortsightedness.”

  Lieutenant Capstone and one other guard rushed forward, swinging their swords. Mestel dodged the one and ducked the other. He dodged the guard’s swing and smashed his fist against his face, sending the guard unconscious to the floor. He ducked under the Lieutenant’s swing at the last instant. He stood up and moved in close, grabbing the Lieutenant’s sword arm and ripping the weapon free. In one fluid motion, he took a step back and brought the sword up to the Lieutenant’s throat.

  Lieutenant Capstone yelled, “Murderers. Look at you, standing there with my King’s blood on your hands.”

  Mestel spoke into the temporary silence. “When we came into the room, they were already dead. I went to check both of them in order to be sure.”

  “All I know is that you were in here alone for a long while. All I know is that you sneaked past three checkpoints in order to force yourself into the King’s quarters. And here you stand over their bodies with royal blood on your hands. From where I’m standing, the two of you are murderers.”

  Mestel opened his mouth to respond, but the Lieutenant was not finished. “Guards! Arrest these two and take them back to their rooms. And see that they stay there this time!” His subordinates rushed into the room, and Mestel could see that it was hopeless. He put down his sword, and he and Austen were both put in irons. Mestel was too bewildered to resist, even though it meant captivity. The guard behind him hit him across the head to get him moving. No fewer than twenty guards escorted him and Austen back to their rooms. They left them in irons and threw them into their rooms, but not before beating both of them severely. Evisar, Xander, Valihorn, and Nero all came out of their rooms wondering what had happened. The guards proceeded to beat all of them for their association with the killers until they returned to their rooms.

  Once Mestel was alone in his room, he sank to his bloody knees with open wounds all over his body and prayed to Martel. He found it difficult to stave off the madness of being wrongly imprisoned, but there was very little else he could do. He didn’t have any weapons, had been beaten nearly unconscious, and all of the walls were made out of thick stone with no windows leading to the outside.

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  Having just killed the King, Nero ran to the door and silently opened it. He looked out into the hallway and saw nothing. He heard bodies locked in a struggle just around the corner. Nero had no idea what was drawing the guard’s attention, but he was grateful for the chance to escape. He moved to the right of the door, shutting it quickly, and dashed to the bookshelf concealing the secret Mistress Passageway. He darted into the secret corridor, moved the bookshelf back into position, and hoped no one saw his retreat.

  He walked down the stairway and made it back to Lidea’s room without being seen. He left the tainted dagger in the Mistress Passageway in a hidden nook he hoped no one would find. Lidea was not in her room, since she was entertaining the Prince. Nero marveled again at what a lucky bastard the Prince was, cementing once again his belief that rank had its privileges. After completing his mission in Jewlian, he would find out for himself soon enough. If he could just make it back to his room without being suspected.

  Nero put himself into the mindset of an elf who had just had a really good time with a woman, and left Lidea’s room. He shut Lidea’s door with a broad, stupid grin on his face. He staggered back to his room without a care in the world and a bounce in his step. He passed one guard in the corridor before making it to the checkpoint outside his room.

  The guards saw him coming a mile away. “Well, lookie what we have here.”

  Another guard jumped right in. “He looks like he had quite a time. Don’t you think, Ed?”

  “Quite a time. I have heard tell that Lidea can give as good as she takes. Best you go sleep it off, my elven friend. You need to regain your strength.”

  Nero moved past the guards and opened the door to his room. “Sounds like a plan. Don’t wait up for me.” Nero shut the door and crawled into bed. He expected it wouldn’t take long for all of the hells to break lose. In fact, it took much longer than he would have thought. There was eventually a lot of yelling and hitting out in the hallway. Nero waited for what he thought was the appropriate amount of time before walking out of his room to find Mestel and Austen being beaten by more guards than he could count. Given the chaos before him, Nero could only conclude that these two had somehow managed to take the blame for the King’s death. It seemed as though it had been Mestel’s voice he had heard outside the King’s chambers after all. Nero marveled at the odd sense of humor the gods had concerning their mortal foot soldiers on Tellus as he and the rest of the companions lunged at the guards in an effort to save their friends from further punishment. They all took several hits for their effort and were each forced back into their respective rooms.

  With Nero’s sixth sense, he was able to feel the chaos, uncertainty, and questions all about him. He laughed at everyone’s ignorance, proving once again that knowledge was power, and power meant control. In his mind, he told himself that he had pulled off the crime of the century and that he had the perfect alibi. It was exhilarating to think that no one except Lidea knew what he had done.

  Perhaps he was not quite as brilliant as he thought. After all, why had Mestel looked at him so judgingly before, and why had he and Austen broken through three checkpoints out of desperation to save the King? There was a small part of Nero’s soul that cried out for justice. Was it right that so many suffered so he could find himself one
rung higher in the Talon Thieves Guild? For the first time in his long life, Nero wondered whether it was all worth it. He had no doubt he would get his reward from the Guildmaster, but was his unrelenting service to the Talon Guild really taking him where he wanted to go?

  As chaos raged around him, Nero put aside this small uncertainty and chose to revel in his power and his ability to control those around him. He knew it was likely to be a long morning, so Nero drifted off to sleep with a not entirely clear conscience.

  Chapter 115: The Beginning of the End

  Gram sat alone in an empty room meditating on the great spell he was about to cast. He sat at a simple wooden table in a wooden chair, studying the spell book he recovered from the lich he had destroyed in the catacombs underneath Locus. He had never cast a spell this powerful, but he was eager to try. He had no doubt the result would be catastrophic, but it would not be easy. If everything was not done exactly as the lich’s spellbook specified, Gram had no doubt the very least that would happen would be his death.

  Gram wished he could wait longer before casting the Cataclysm spell, since he did not have enough magic-user potential to ensure Armena’s complete destruction, but the Guildmaster had made his wishes very clear. Regretfully, even after two years of capturing every spellcaster the Guild could find, he still did not have enough to unleash the spell’s full potential, but he did have enough to cripple the elf kingdom forever, thus assuring the Talon Guild’s continued expansion into the future.

  The problem was that magic-users were so rare in Tellus that their existence verged on myth. Most peasants with a magical aptitude went their entire lives without harnessing their special gift, because there was no one around to guide them in their development. It also did not help that the few wizards and high priests who did exist were either too well-known in their towns and cities to go missing, or too powerful to be taken alive. The Guild had been collecting anyone they could get their hands on and holding them captive in the Underworld or in a Talon Guild prison. The Talon Guild, with two years of effort on Gram’s part, had managed to capture and hold more than a hundred beings with spellcaster ability. Some of the captives knew about their special gift, while others were clueless. All of them had the gift inside their souls. Many were captured on the road between Dowden and Wessex. Locus and its surrounding countryside had been emptied, as well as the areas surrounding Darkwood Forest. The Talon Guild abducted as many Sorcerers and Philosopher wizards as could go missing without repercussions. The Krone, thanks to Arun, had even donated some of their own spellcasters to the cause. And now their collective talent had been brought to this place at this time so that he might make history.