Blood of the Earth

by David A. Wells

  ***

  The morning of departure arrived. Kelvin had given Alexander the newly fashioned collar of binding the night before, and Lucky had given every member of his party a pouch of potions for their journey, including several healing draughts and a jar of healing salve each. Alexander had split his supply of fairy dust into two vials, keeping one with him and secreting the other in the tower. Isabel’s life might depend on having the fairy dust when he needed it, and he certainly didn’t want to risk losing all of it on his journey. He also took one of the vials of Wizard’s Dust back from Kelvin and put it with the fairy dust, just to be sure he would have what he needed for the potion when the time came.

  The army had gathered around the Ruathan Gate and preparations had been made for the assault into Fellenden. Prior to opening the Gate, Alexander sat down on the Gate platform to meditate, sending his awareness to Fellenden to make sure that everything was as he expected it to be. Two legions were still encamped around the Gate. He was about to ruin their morning.

  The last of Kelvin’s larger explosive weapons was loaded onto a wooden ramp which was pushed up against the Gate. The weapon would roll through the moment Alexander opened the Gate.

  Alexander looked to his friends and family for confirmation that everything was in order, then placed his hand on the Gate. It shimmered momentarily before opening to the plains of central Fellenden. The weapon rolled through into the midst of a platoon-sized guard force arrayed before the Gate and an encampment of thousands more sprawling away in every direction. Before they could raise their weapons, Alexander closed the Gate and gave Kelvin a nod. The Guild Mage crushed a small enchanted pebble under his boot.

  Alexander waited for a count of thirty before opening the Gate again. This time the scene was very different. All of the soldiers within several hundred feet had been blown to the ground, most of them dead. The enemy in the distance was in a state of sudden panic as they scrambled to make sense of the tremendous explosion that had just eaten a hole out of the middle of their encampment.

  Alexander’s heavy cavalry thundered through into the heart of Fellenden, followed by the infantry and archers. Once the lead force of three legions led by General Kern was through the Gate, Alexander and his friends followed. There was nothing but devastation for as far as he could see with his all around sight. He felt a pang of frustration at his blindness. As much as he tried to tell himself that he could overcome it, he had to admit that it limited him in some important ways.

  He sent his mind to Chloe and surveyed the scene of battle through her eyes. She flew up a hundred feet over the encampment to get a better perspective. The forces guarding the Gate had been completely unprepared for such a violent and sudden attack. The initial explosion had killed thousands and wounded thousands more. Those who were unscathed were disoriented and unorganized.

  Ruathan forces in the initial attack were prepared and fought with a plan. The cavalry split into two forces, turning left and right from the Gate, cutting the enemy force in half. The infantry followed, creating a battle line facing the enemy soldiers that remained in front of the Gate, while the cavalry moved to engage the forces behind it.

  Archers came through next, forming a line behind the infantry and immediately attacking the soldiers at the front of the Gate. It took only a few volleys from the legion of longbowmen to send the enemy in front into an all-out retreat.

  The plan was to rout those in front of the Gate, then collapse back onto the group caught behind the Gate, run them down and kill or capture the lot of them. Zuhl’s soldiers were fearsome and skilled, but they didn’t fare well against the superior numbers and coordinated attack launched from within their midst. Within an hour, the two legions guarding the Gate had broken and were fleeing from the rapidly growing Ruathan army.

  It took the better part of the day for Abigail’s army to move through the Gate. Command tents were erected nearby as the soldiers and supply trains poured through. Alexander and Abigail presided over a meeting to reiterate their battle plan and contingency plans for the coming struggle against Zuhl’s forces.

  A flight of Sky Knights commanded by Mistress Corina would be joining them by nightfall, and the Ithilian armada was moving into position to participate in the attack against the shipyards.

  Near dusk, after the last of the soldiers had arrived and the army was busy setting up a hasty camp, Alexander prepared to return to Ruatha with his parents and many of his advisors.

  “Be safe, Abigail,” he said. “Remember, you don’t have to fight the enemy, you just have to lead the army in battle, but lead from behind.”

  “I know, Alexander,” Abigail said, giving her brother a hug.

  “Take care of Jack for me,” she whispered.

  Alexander nodded and turned to Anatoly. “Watch out for her.”

  Anatoly gave him a grim grin and a big hug. “I’d feel better if Commander P’Tal was going with you.”

  “Me too, but the pair he picked to accompany us look promising,” Alexander said. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. I’ll look in on you from time to time. Pay attention to your dreams.”

  The big man-at-arms nodded and clapped him on the shoulder.

  Isabel and Abigail shared a hug.

  Jack didn’t say a word to Abigail, but instead took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly but passionately. They shared a look for a moment before he turned away from her and walked quickly back through the Gate.

  “I’ve set the Gate so you can open it with the Thinblade,” Alexander said to his sister. “With Kallistos, you should be able to reach it relatively quickly if you need to send word back to Ruatha. Dad will be posting a squad to run messages.”

  “Alexander, I know all of this,” Abigail said. “We’ve gone over every detail several times.”

  “I know,” Alexander said. “I just want to make sure. I love you, Abigail.”

  “I love you too, Alexander. I’ll see you soon.”

  With that, he and those of his friends and allies who wouldn’t be taking part in the campaign against Zuhl returned to Ruatha. The regiment he would lead to the Reishi Isle was camped nearby and had already set up his tents. He went to bed early after a quiet dinner with Isabel.

  She was becoming increasingly on edge. He could see anxiety in her colors and it worried him but he didn’t ask her about it. She would talk to him in her own time.

  The next morning he rose before sunrise and prepared for his journey. At breakfast, a rider arrived with an urgent message from Baron Buckwold. The young man entered, out of breath and coated with road grime. “Lord Reishi, I have news of invasion in Warrenton,” he said.

  “Do you have any details?” Alexander asked.

  “Only that it’s a legion or more from Andalia,” he said. “They attacked in the night, led by a small force of wizards. They took the ports. Once the first of the Lancers were ashore, the home guard of Warrenton was overpowered and forced to retreat. The Lancers are waging a scorched-earth war against the villages up the coast. They left Warrenton standing but are focusing their attacks on the food crops and livestock.”

  Alexander closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “All this time I’ve been so concerned about the south, I didn’t even think about the east coast,” he said. “It makes sense, though. Buckwold and Warrenton would have had the best crop of any territory in Ruatha. Makes for the perfect target.”

  “Ithilian harvest estimates are good this year and we have quite a bit of grain stored away for hard times,” Abel said. “I’d say this qualifies. Your people won’t go hungry this winter.”

  Alexander nodded. “Thank you, Abel. Dad, you’d better take the remaining legions in the north and see what you can do about the Lancers.”

  “I read General Talia’s report on his fight with the Lancers down south,” Duncan said. “With the Sky Knights’ help, I think we might be able to lure them into a bad spot again. I’ll set the infantry and archers moving and take a legion of cavalry east today.”


  “It’s a good bet Phane is sending more to the port in Warrenton,” Alexander said. “We’d better see about reinforcing Buckwold’s defenses, and I’d like the Sky Knights to begin patrolling the coastline.”

  “I’ve already talked with Mistress Constance,” Duncan said. “For some reason her people are eager to fly patrol, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I have a team trained and equipped to make firepots,” Lucky said. “The Sky Knights are armed and ready. In fact, they’ve been practicing with stones to hone their aim.”

  “Good, I’ll feel a lot better if we can drown those Lancers rather than fight them,” Alexander said. “Dad, as much as I’d like to stay and help with this, I have to go.”

  “I know, Son,” Duncan said. “We all have to fight the enemy we’re best prepared to fight. Between the wizards, Sky Knights, and the legions I have under my command, we’ll manage against the Lancers.”

  ***

  Within an hour, Alexander was standing on the Gate platform with Isabel, Jack, Chloe, Hector, and Horace. Wizard Jahoda and Commander Perry were there as well. The severe and highly disciplined commander had volunteered for the most dangerous mission of all. His regiment of a thousand battle-hardened soldiers would take and hold the Reishi Keep in the midst of the most wild and untamed scrap of dirt in all the Seven Isles while Wizard Jahoda would supervise the building of a wall around the Keep. Two wizards had been handpicked by Kelvin to accompany the task force, and Cassandra would be sending a wing of twenty-four Sky Knights to assist as well.

  Alexander feared it wouldn’t be enough. He’d traveled across the Reishi Isle and knew how perilous it was. More worrisome was the tentacle demon loose within the Keep. There was no telling what it might do or how many men it might kill before they brought it down … if they could even kill it.

  With a deep breath he opened the Gate to the Reishi Isle. It opened to the plain outside the Keep, as Alexander knew it would.

  “Commander Perry, secure the area,” Alexander said.

  “By your command, Lord Reishi,” Commander Perry said, then motioned for his cavalry to move through. Two hundred men on heavy horse stepped onto the Reishi Isle and fanned out around the Gate, followed by six hundred infantry and two hundred archers. Alexander and his party were the last through. He closed the Gate behind him, cutting off any hope of escape for the task force he’d assigned to secure the Keep.

  “Work quickly,” Alexander said to Wizard Jahoda. “The nights will be the most dangerous. The sooner the wall is built, the safer you will all be. I’ll be back in two or three weeks. We’ll assess your progress at that point and determine if more resources are needed from Ruatha.”

  “Be safe, Lord Reishi,” Jahoda said. “We’ll begin construction immediately.”

  “Stay sharp, Commander,” Alexander said to Perry.

  “Always, Lord Reishi. Safe journey,” Commander Perry said with a crisp salute.

  With that they were off into the wilderness of the Reishi Isle.

  Chapter 22

  They traveled for two uneventful days through the thick forest. Occasionally, they heard a predator in the distance, but nothing that was interested in a group of five. A few times they thought they were being watched but nothing ever came of it.

  The forest teemed with life, most of it small but all of it very busy with the business of survival. The Reishi Isle had been bereft of civilization since the fall of the Reishi Empire. Worse, the island was home to some of Malachi Reishi’s more ambitious experiments and summonings.

  Dark things stalked the wilds of the Reishi Isle.

  Alexander was wary. Every step brought him closer to Jinzeri. He remembered all too vividly how hopeless and powerless he felt in the brief time that Shivini had been in possession of his body.

  He also remembered the feelings of despair and self-doubt he was experiencing at the moment when Shivini had taken him. His emotional weakness had opened him up to the shade. He had no intention of allowing that to happen ever again.

  As he walked, he reflected on how poisonous such feelings were. He already had enough going against him … he couldn’t allow his own mind to entertain thoughts that plotted against him as well. He renewed his silent vow to remain ever vigilant lest his thoughts betray him again, and he resolved to entertain only those thoughts that accurately reflected reality or the vision of reality that he was attempting to create.

  Self-doubt, worry, negative fantasies, and guilt were no longer welcome within his mind.

  And yet, he did feel guilt, a nagging and terrible guilt deep within his psyche that he couldn’t shake.

  He had killed Boaberous.

  His purpose had been just and necessary.

  His need had been great.

  His friends and family, allies and advisors all agreed that it had to be done.

  And yet, he had killed an innocent man—violated the Old Law … the very law that he’d sworn to protect.

  He couldn’t reconcile the conflict within himself and so it played out on the battlefield of his mind, unbidden and unwanted, yet inescapable.

  He snapped back to the present moment when Hector suddenly stopped in midstride, urgently signaling for stillness. Alexander froze, stretching his hearing and his all around sight to the edge of its range. Within seconds, a rustle in the brush brought his attention to the wolf that was stalking them. After a closer look, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was a grey wolf, just an animal.

  “Wolves,” he whispered.

  Isabel tipped her head back and closed her eyes, sending her vision to Slyder.

  “I count seven,” she said.

  Alexander saw her colors flare with power as she called on her ability to control animals.

  “They’re mine now,” she said. “They’ve accepted us as part of their pack … for the time being anyway.”

  Alexander smiled at his wife. She had truly come into her own. She was Lady Reishi by marriage, by right, and by virtue of her power. He was proud of her and he loved her completely, but he was also afraid for her. Her colors held the taint of Phane’s darkness and he wasn’t sure if he could save her.

  As the thought entered his mind, he forced it aside and replaced it with of a vision of them happily growing old together, then told himself, yet again, that he wasn’t going to feed dark thoughts with his attention.

  Two more days passed without incident. They were making steady progress toward their objective, even if it was slower than Alexander would have liked. The forest was thick and overgrown, untended and wild. Finding a path was challenging at times, cutting a path was tedious and time-consuming, but occasionally necessary.

  Alexander’s all around sight was becoming clearer the more he used it, but it came at a price. He was beginning to have headaches, especially late in the day. It took some measure of concentration and effort to see with his magic and using it all the time was taking a toll.

  On the fifth day, the gently rolling hills of the Reishi Isle’s northwestern forests gave way to the foothills of the mountain range that formed the northwest corner of the island. Alexander felt a sense of expectancy as they neared his goal. If he could secure the keystone from Jinzeri, he would have plenty of time to figure out a more permanent solution to the problem of the Nether Gate.

  They were struggling through some particularly dense underbrush when Isabel stopped, looking up and closing her eyes.

  “We’re being followed,” she said. “I count over two dozen.”

  “Two dozen what?” Alexander asked.

  “They look like primitives, similar to some tribes that live in the eastern wilds of the Great Forest. They’re armed with stone-tipped spears.”

  “Stone-tipped spears can be pretty sharp,” Jack said.

  “How far back are they?” Alexander asked.

  “Ten minutes, maybe less if they can move through this brush faster than we can,” Isabel said.

  “I don’t want to fight them if we can help it,” Al
exander said. “Maybe I can scare them away with Mindbender.”

  “They might not be looking for a fight at all,” Jack said. “They could just be curious.”

  “I’d rather avoid them altogether,” Alexander said. “We don’t have time for distractions.”

  Before he could make a decision, there was a terrifying roar from the south. It came from a good distance away, but not nearly far enough for his liking. Whatever made that noise had to be big.

  Everyone froze, waiting expectantly.

  “That was unsettling,” Jack whispered.

  Alexander nodded and gestured to the northwest. Hector set out again but more quietly and cautiously than before. The forest had gone silent. The birds and small animals that had only moments before filled the forest with activity and song had all gone to ground.

  “The wolves are spooked,” Isabel said.

  “I know how they feel,” Alexander said. “Can you get a look at that thing?”

  Isabel nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. She inhaled sharply as her eyes snapped open.

  “It’s huge, and it’s headed straight for us,” she said. “There are some cliffs to the north where we might find cover.”

  “How big is huge?” Jack asked.

  “Twelve feet at the shoulder and twenty feet long,” Isabel said. “It runs on all fours and has massive shoulders and huge jaws with lots of teeth.”

  It roared again, only this time it was much closer. They could hear it crashing through the dense forest.

  “Run!” Alexander yelled.

  They headed for the cliffs and the hope of cover. As they fled through the brush, they heard the dying yelp of one of the wolves that Isabel had been using to scout for them. She released her hold on the rest so they could flee the beast and at least have a chance for survival.

  The forest thinned as they reached a sheer cliff face that reached several hundred feet into the sky. Alexander scanned it with his all around sight, looking for any break or opening that they could hide in, but found nothing.