Forgotten Soldiers

by Joshua P. Simon

  “The Sky Tower? That’s a pretty dumb name,” said Ira.

  “Almost as dumb as Ira, huh?” Ava shot back.

  Ira opened his mouth and closed it like he had been ready to agree.

  Dekar snorted.

  “How does that fit into all this end of the world stuff?” I asked.

  “Not much other than providing me a way to get here. But you asked the question.”

  “Fair enough. Start when you’re ready.”

  She took another swallow of honey, set the spoon down, and cleared her throat.

  “News of Damanhur hit Hol hard. Everyone agreed something had to be done about the rogue soldiers who started that mess as Damanhur had reported things to the king,” Ava began. “No one in the army believed the city’s report though. We all knew this wasn’t a bunch of green recruits, but veterans. You wouldn’t have started killing unless someone had been trying to kill you first. The king knew this too at first, but popular opinion began to sway him. The High Mages took the side of the king. Probably for no other reason than to get under General Balak’s skin, who, by the way, was livid. He and the king got into quite the shouting match. Balak didn’t back down until the king threatened to remove him as commander of the army.”

  “I never thought Balak would do that,” I said.

  Ira grunted in what sounded like disgust. I remembered his story about why he hated the man and wondered if Balak could ever do enough to redeem himself in Ira’s eyes. Probably not. Honestly, after hearing Ira’s story, I doubted Balak could ever do anything to redeem himself in my eyes either.

  “Despite the outcry,” continued Ava, “the king ordered Balak to release the next wave of soldiers. Balak did and word is he told them to pass through Damanhur. He was daring the people to try something again.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Probably out of spite. Balak was angry and I guess he figured that since that group was triple the size of the group you left with they’d be safer. He was wrong. Damanhur attacked the second group at the city’s gates. The city took heavy casualties, more than twice of what they gave, but in the end they had the numbers and wiped that second group out completely.”

  Ira, Dekar, and I all exchanged curses. More of our brothers had died while just trying to get home.

  “Makes me want to go back and kill every last one of the people in that city while they sleep,” said Ira.

  “Too late,” said Ava.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Balak lost it. The same night he got word of what happened, he pulled the entire army out of Genesha and marched on Damanhur while refusing all communication with the king and the Council of High Mages.”

  “By the gods, he marched on a Turine city?” I asked.

  She nodded. “He razed the blasted thing to the ground. Every last man, woman, and child killed. Word is he wouldn’t even allow it to be looted. Said he didn’t want the taint of those spoils in his army.”

  Dekar whistled low.

  I blinked. “Wow. What happened next?”

  Ava took another swallow of honey. “He began slowly taking the army south, following the path that I think he expected you took to get home. It was like he was daring the citizens in other towns to try something similar to Damanhur.”

  “What did the king do?” I asked.

  “He sent a small team of our best High Mages to take Balak down and regain control of the army. The king had a lot of cleanup to do in the public’s eyes and there would be no satisfying end to Balak except one that involved his death.”

  “Considering how much they hated Balak, the High Mages must have loved those orders,” I said.

  “They did,” said Ava. “Until they got there. Balak must have anticipated the king using the High Mages and created a bodyguard of those resistant to sorcery. We received word later that they never leave his side. The High Mages didn’t have a chance with their sorcery negated. Only one lived long enough to tell us what happened.”

  “The world keeps getting crazier,” said Ira.

  I grunted in agreement. “How does all this relate to the artifact?”

  “The king, like everyone else in Hol, was worried Balak would just decide to march on the capital and take Turine for himself. Who could stop him? The king wanted him removed immediately, but the forces he still commanded were too small and the High Mages were obviously hesitant to send more of their own against him. I sat in on those meetings. It wasn’t pretty. On top of everything already spinning around, there was a huge undercurrent of what the Geneshans would do once they got word that the Turine army was now under the control of a renegade. They could invade Turine again and we’d be defenseless to stop them if Balak chose not to get involved.”

  “So, out of options, the king instructed the High Mages to use the Geneshan artifact,” I said.

  Ava nodded. “The plan was to use the power of the artifact to initiate a massive transfer portal from Hol to Balak’s location. They’d bring in the king’s personal guard along with every other mage available. The hope was to hit Balak hard and in all the confusion seize him.”

  “And you left?” I asked.

  “Snuck away that morning, right before they attempted the transfer portal. I didn’t sign up for that. I felt the power of that artifact. And I sat in on some of the preliminary studies of it. The Geneshans had every right to be scared of using it.”

  Dekar grunted. “Obviously.”

  “Well, at least the worst of it seems to be over,” said Ira.

  “I’m not sure,” said Ava.

  “What do you mean?” Dekar asked. “People are getting better. You’re finally up.”

  “Yes, but everything we learned about that Geneshan prophecy hinted that using the artifact would be the end of the world. Balls of fire dropping from the sky, earthquakes, and so on. If you can think of something bad, it’s supposed to happen after using this thing.”

  Ira stood. “C’mon. I bet most of those stories are just meant to scare little children.”

  “Explain the sky then,” Dekar said to his brother. “It doesn’t matter what time it is, day or night, but you can still see these bright colors over in the direction of Hol.”

  Ira waved a hand. “Just residual effects from the artifact. We’ve seen stuff like that on the battlefield before.”

  “Nothing like this,” said Dekar.

  “It’ll fade eventually.” Ira walked to the window, peering out in the direction of Hol. He grunted and then went quiet.

  Ira going quiet was never a good thing.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The sky’s changed.”

  “Changed how?” asked Ava, sitting up a bit more.

  “Well, it’s pulsing now. Going real bright, reds and oranges getting deeper in color. Then it dims, and it’s like its drawing itself back in.” He shrugged. “I guess the sorcery is fading already.”

  “Tyrus, get me to the window,” said Ava.

  She began to tuck the sheet underneath her legs and nudge herself over to the side of the bed.

  “Are you sure? You haven’t walked in days. Your legs might give out on you.”

  “I need to see things for myself.”

  Dekar came around and helped me guide her to the window. Ava didn’t shy away from his touch. Unlike the rift her and Ira always had, she and Dekar got along well.

  She put her head down as sunlight touched her eyes. “Tyrus, I need my hand back or I won’t be able to see anything. If you’re unwilling to let me go yet, then grab my shoulder.”

  I did, and she used the free hand to shield her eyes.

  She stared toward Hol for some time. We all did, actually. Confirming what Ira said about the pulses.

  After a minute, Ira couldn’t keep quiet. “Well? Was I right?”

  “No,” said Ava. “It may be pulsing, but it’s not going to fade away. It would have done that by now if that were the case. I think its building up for another eruption.”

  “Y
ou mean where we all feel like garbage again?” asked Ira.

  “That, and probably more,” said Ava. “We need to leave Denu Creek, Tyrus.”

  “And go where?” I asked. “If this is the end of the world, we can’t outrun it.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. I’d rather at least try to go somewhere else than just sit and wait for whatever hell that artifact is going to cause. Who knows, if we get far enough away from Hol, the effects might be weaker. Maybe it’s just the end of the Geneshans’ world, not everyone’s.”

  “I could buy that,” said Ira.

  “What about you, Dekar?” I asked.

  “It’s worth a shot.”

  “All right, then where do we go?” I asked as we all stared toward Hol.

  The sky pulsed brighter than it had before, bringing in hues of purple to mix with the reds and oranges. For a moment I thought my mind had played tricks on me, until a small gasp from Ava.

  She clicked her tongue. “I’d say as far away as we can, big brother. And soon.”

  * * *

  Ava wanted to stay up longer to discuss our plans, but her lack of strength betrayed her when she needed Dekar and I to hold her up. We carried her back to bed, forced her to stay awake long enough to eat another biscuit and drink some water. Then I told her to get some sleep.

  She never liked being bossed around, which was a testament to just how tired she was since she didn’t argue once. As soon as she lay down, she was asleep. She didn’t even wake when we started talking about where we should go.

  The discussion didn’t last long, though, when I remembered that both of our horses had died after the initial eruption so our wagon was essentially useless.

  In light of that, I sent Dekar and Ira out to see what sort of animals were available in town. I told them to buy something decent with the junk we had been given.

  It wasn’t long after that I closed my eyes as well, leaning over my chair, head resting on Ava’s bed.

  Myra and Zadok nudged me shortly afterward. Both insisted I go sleep in the other room. They said they would take over. I didn’t protest. Ava’s condition had improved dramatically and my body ached from being stuck in too many awkward positions the last few days.

  Worried about what nightmares might plague my dreams, I almost said a prayer to Molak to ease my mind.

  Almost.

  I fell asleep before I made that mistake.

  CHAPTER 22

  Two days later and life went on. People kept bringing us stuff, some junk, some valuable. Most of it I turned away only to find later that Ira had brought it back inside while I slept. We got into a couple arguments about that until I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. Whatever was useless, I’d just make him leave behind anyway.

  It took over a day to get mounts secured, mainly because Ira had been adamant about inspecting every horse in excruciating detail. He didn’t want to take any chances. The two he settled on cost nearly ten times what they normally would, but considering so many animals had died in the eruption, it had definitely become a seller’s market.

  According to Boaz, normalcy had returned to Denu Creek. Even Jareb and his bunch had recovered enough to return to their homes and jobs. It seemed that Jareb could no longer draw up enough support to have me arrested for taking Zadok and Myra away from him. The town was more than split in our favor now.

  I finally stumbled out of bed a couple hours after dawn. That was late for me, but I was still recuperating.

  I shuffled over to a basin of cool water atop the dresser. I held my breath and dunked my head, using a hand to rub the water over my neck and head. I came up huffing for air. Reaching for a towel, I threw a few curses at Molak while drying myself. I hated the feeling of first waking up and thought the Father should suffer a bit himself because of it.

  After a quick visit to the chamber pot, I dressed, and walked into the sitting room.

  Dekar and Myra sat opposite each other at a small table supporting a flat, thin, board covered with military markings and various terrains. Wooden pieces of various colors, shapes, and sizes stood atop it. Each piece represented units a general might have at their disposal such as cavalry, siege equipment, archers, infantry, spies, various levels of mages, and so on.

  Dekar had begun teaching Myra Crests.

  I scratched the patchy stubble on my neck. “Have you been at it all night?”

  “No,” said Dekar as he moved one of his cavalry units up into a flanking position. “But we were both up early and she’s a determined player.”

  “You know he’s never lost before, Myra.”

  “Yet,” was all she said, staring intently at the game board.

  Dekar grinned in my direction. “She’s got skill, Tyrus. A good mind for strategy. Might be a natural.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  Myra whipped her head up wearing a look somewhere between a scowl and a frown. It wasn’t pleasant. “Don’t call me that,” she said.

  “Sorry,” I said, unsure how else to respond. Any approach I tried at bonding with her had fallen flat, and in many cases only increased the gulf between us.

  Fatherhood was much easier when all I had to do was patch her skinned knee or cut up her meat.

  She put her head down. “Zadok and Ava are awake. There’s leftover breakfast with them.”

  I could take a hint. “Thanks.” I took a step toward Ava’s room and stopped. “Where’s Ira?”

  “Walking the horses,” said Dekar. “They’re eating better, but they aren’t quite back up to full strength yet.”

  “Shouldn’t he be back by now?”

  He grunted. “Maybe. I’ll go check on him.”

  I waved him down as he started to stand. “That’s all right. I’ll go. Finish your game. I can wait to eat.”

  I left the inn, passing Dinah on the way as I cut through the kitchen. She smiled and pointed me to some food. I grabbed a cold sausage, realizing I was hungry after all. I gobbled the whole thing in three bites. This one had a bit more pepper, which I liked.

  I left through the back entrance and cut around an old storage shed. It was where Ira had moved our wagon.

  The two horses he purchased were harnessed. However, neither the horses nor the wagon were moving. Ira stood next to them arguing with a handful of people from town. The only one I recognized immediately was Mayor Rezub. He still had the presence of someone who thought too highly of himself. I did have to give the man credit for holding that demeanor while squaring off against Ira. Ira probably had the skinny mayor by at least seven inches.

  Given the angle I approached the group, none saw me at first. I wasn’t sure what was said next, but Ira’s voice rose significantly and included quite a few colorful phrases that were common during our stint in the military.

  Mayor Rezub took a step back at the outburst, showing his first sign of wilting. His supporters took two steps back further, much keener on supporting him from a safer distance.

  “Everything all right?” I called out.

  Heads swung my way. Relief washed over Ira’s face, his brow over his green eyes relaxing. “Ty, please talk to these people. I just don’t have the patience.”

  Rezub took the opportunity to jump in. “I was just discussing your future with your friend.”

  My eyes narrowed as I stopped next to him. “What about my future?”

  “Well, we couldn’t help but notice that your group has been buying supplies.” He nodded to the wagon. “Including those two horses. From what Sered said, you paid him a pretty inflated price for them.”

  “Supply and demand.”

  He smiled. “Of course.”

  “Do you have a point, Mayor?”

  “It’s just that I’ve been hearing rumors that you and your group are planning to leave town. And after seeing all this, I realize that those weren’t just rumors.”

  “Again, your point?”

  The others exchanged worried looks and began murmuring.

  Rezub looked over his shoulder
at them, then back at me. “Can we talk somewhere a bit more private?”

  “No. Say what’s on your mind and quit all this dancing around. This isn’t a political debate.”

  He cleared his throat and forced a smile. “Yes, I guess not. I’ll just lay it out for you. We don’t want you to leave.”

  That took me off guard. “Really? Well, as flattered as I am, that’s just too bad. Because we are.”

  “You don’t understand. We don’t want you to leave and we are willing to do whatever is necessary to make sure you don’t.”

  I stepped closer and leaned in. “That sounded like a threat. I hope that wasn’t a threat. You saw what happened last time you and yours tried to stop me and mine from leaving town.”

  He swallowed hard, but held his ground. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “That wasn’t my idea. It was Jareb’s. I don’t want it to come to that again. In fact, I plan to do everything I can to stop it from coming to that. I know it was wrong then and I know it’s wrong now. Especially after all that you and your children did to help us. I know I appreciate it.”

  “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

  He nodded. “The thing is I am the mayor and represent the people of Denu Creek.”

  I gestured to the people behind him. “So what you’re saying is that this is their idea. Not yours. You’re just the mouthpiece.”

  “More or less. Trust me, they don’t want to hurt you either.”

  “But that doesn’t mean they won’t if it comes down to it.”

  “Well, it’s just that they’re scared. People are trying to go on living their lives as before, but it’s hard to do that with the sky as it is and the memories of those who died fresh on everyone’s minds. They know we would have lost more if not for your help. Trust me, they’re grateful. Plenty grateful. But when it comes to family, people will do drastic things to look out for them. Considering what happened between you and Jareb, I’m sure you of all people can understand where they’re coming from.”