By that time, the sun was beginning to set, so the dwarves and men decided to go look for some wood. Glaide looked over his provisions, but they would obviously not be enough to feed everyone and still leave sufficient for the rest of his trip. However, the elves offered to go gather some fruit, and the barbarian insisted on hunting a bit. Naturally, the adolescent offered to help, but he was politely refused. After all, he’d already done enough to help for one day!
The young woman, on the other hand, still had yet to speak a single word. She reminded Glaide somehow of the little boy he and his master had saved from the massacre. He had been mute with horror at everything he had faced, and the young man thought that that was likely also the case for this young woman. Presumably, she’d been a prisoner, and while Zakorth wasn’t so frightening, who could say what she’d experienced when she was being transported there? What Glaide had overheard between the dark elves in Zakorth’s commons had proven Kezthrem right; they were clearly both sadistic and insane.
Since he had no one to talk to, and rather than just sitting there, the boy set about collecting some of the larger rocks to serve as seats. In the center, he arranged some stones to act as a fire pit. While he worked, he cast constant glances towards the young woman. She wore a long dress made of heavy brown material that wouldn’t be very practical for traveling. The dress was torn in places, and Glaide thought he could make out some traces of blood on it. The young woman, watched him set up the stones with an incredulous look on her face. Her dark eyes betrayed her fear—she looked like she would never again be at peace—and her face was drawn. She looked around at times, but she seemed indifferent to their surroundings.
“It’s almost as though she doesn’t realize she’s free,” thought Glaide. “But who is she? And what was she doing in Zakorth?”
Once the young man had finished setting things up, he invited his companion to take one of the “seats”, but just as she got to her feet, her legs gave out, and she would have fallen if Glaide hadn’t caught her. Instinctively and almost desperately, she collapsed against him.
“You’re okay,” murmured the adolescent, surprised by her fall. “We’re all friends here, and you have nothing to fear. We’re just going to eat a bit, and then you can go to sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll decide what we’re going to do next.” She seemed to relax a bit, and with the young man’s help and a hesitant step, she managed to take a seat. Glaide would have tried to start a conversation, but just then the others returned, and he soon forgot all about it. He had to laugh at the disconcerted look on Skelf’s face when the barbarian came back.
“There isn’t a single animal anywhere near here,” he lamented. On the other hand, there had been plenty to harvest, and the elves returned with their arms laden with all kinds of fruit, while the dwarves and the men built up a campfire. As he watched everyone busily working, the boy contemplated how useful it could be to know how to hunt—though not around here, apparently! And as for gathering fruit... He couldn’t tell one tree from another! As the flames sprang up, illuminating the darkness that had settled in around them, they enjoyed a meal that was not only delicious, but also celebrated their newfound freedom. As they ate, Glaide began to speak.
“We didn’t exactly have time to chat in Zakorth, so I was wondering... Where are you all from?”
“I’m the leader of the Ueluf clan, from the northwestern part of the Known Lands,” came the barbarian’s reply. Let me assure you that I and my people owe you a great debt. I will lend you my aid, should you ever have need of it.”
“Thank you. How did you wind up being captured?” At the question, the barbarian’s face darkened with pure hatred.
“It was one of our own. He betrayed us. He betrayed me into Baras’ hands! He challenged me to a duel, claiming he wanted to take over the clan. However, it was a trap. He brought reinforcements, and took me prisoner. He probably claimed that I was dead, and I’d imagine the clan is now divided; I’m sure my most devoted friends will have refused to follow him. I should return to them as quickly as possibly and end all of this insanity. The Ueluf clan should be standing united.”
Hearing that, the young man was reminded that he wasn’t the only one with responsibilities. However, having a barbarian as an ally would certainly have its advantages in the plan he was working on.
“We’re originally from Shinozuka,” asserted one of the humans. “We were headed to Adrish, and were captured along the way. I’d imagine we’ll head back to the capital as soon as possible. Our families should know that we’re alive, and... and we have to let them know that our companion has passed on.”
“As for me,” spoke up a dwarf, “I’m from a group of warriors. We underestimated our enemies, however. We fell in an ambush near the mountains of Fyth, and as the sole survivor, I was taken prisoner.”
“We’re simple soldiers,” added an elf. “We usually remain in a woods near the middle of the Known Lands, but we were ordered to go to another forest further to the south. We were sent to help scout around Zakorth. Their borders have been expanding recently, and we were sent to make sure our home was not in danger. Because of a lack of both information and prudence, we were captured. We’ll have to return to announce that one of our group fell in battle.”
“I always travel alone,” announced the second dwarf. “Several months ago, I decided to leave the safety of Oclin-Fer to see the Known Lands. It was quite imprudent...”
“No,” exclaimed Glaide at that. “You shouldn’t say that! All of the peoples have the right to travel through these lands. Traveling and seeing the world is the best things! Those of your race remain in isolation, but it’s a mistake. You need to truly live in this world!” The two dwarves looked at him in surprise, then smiled.
“You are the Destroyer. Everyone in Oclin-Fer knows that a man came to our king to ask for help. Your words are the same as the ones that that stranger spoke.”
“They are,” he agreed. “That was me. And your king gave me this gift, too,” he said, pulling out the chain of mithril Gardock had given him six months earlier. The two warriors bowed their heads slightly, but it was one of the elves who spoke next.
“So, the rumors are true. A new Destroyer is born, and a new age is about to come to pass.” Glaide glanced at the young woman who, though silent as ever, now looked at him in surprise. Then, he turned to the men, who had remained strangely silent at that announcement. They seemed to be stupefied. As was the case with most people the adolescent shared his identity with, they seemed unable to believe their eyes or their ears. He gave them a couple of moments to compose themselves.
“The... the Destroyer... What an honor!” one finally stammered out. “Wow, who would have thought?” Glaide smiled, but cut off the declarations of loyalty after a few moments.
“You’ve only been free for a few hours, and already you want to serve me? Listen, live the lives you want to live. I’ll do what I can, and when the time comes, you can be ready to answer my call, if you want to.” He wasn’t worried, however. Humanity would follow him. He knew that the situation with the other races represented before him was more complicated, however. He understood that at this moment, he had a chance to gain aid from among all of the races of the Known Lands. Obviously, Skelf and his clan would be on his side, and while their forces would certainly not be negligible, on their own they wouldn't be enough, either.
Silence fell then, they all stopped to contemplate the extent to which their futures had changed, and the roles that they would all play in that future. Finally, Glaide spoke again.
“When I first arrived in Zakorth, and before I freed you, I was surprised by the city. When you thinks of the massacres its inhabitants perpetrate, and the danger they represent, you expect the place to be like something out of a nightmare. But, strangely enough, I actually found the city to be quite peaceful. Or perhaps dead would be a better adjective.”
“That’s exactly the right word for it,” replied an elf. “The village is dead. From the day it wa
s first taken by Baras, nothing has changed. Where the cities of men have evolved, grown, and developed, it has remained exactly the same.”
“You mean those buildings are hundreds of years old?!?” exclaimed the young man.
“They are. They were sturdy structures, because many of the races of the Known Lands lived there, and they each brought their own techniques and knowledge to the table, like they did in Shinozuka.” Glaide tried to find a comparison to this from his own world, and found himself mentally filing Zakorth away with the fortified villages of the Middle Ages.
“But,” he continued, “the place is inhabited. Where do our enemies live if they haven't touched the houses?”
“Well,” declared a dwarf, “they do travel a great deal. You can’t really talk about inhabitants of Zakorth, per se, because it isn’t their home so much as a headquarters where they go to receive their orders. They spend some of their time relaxing in the tavern, and the rest of it spreading death.”
“So that’s why the place is so much less dangerous than the land around it,” murmured Glaide. “Because no one really lives there at all. It’s just a temporary haven for them, with no life of its own.”
“And besides that,” replied the second dwarf, “those who do live in Zakorth come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and they have no master other than Baras himself, because they cannot imagine standing behind a leader or working with each other. So, the village isn’t organized. There is no system of defense, militia, or commerce. So then, it makes sense that nothing has really changed over time.”
“That’s what I was thinking when I first arrived,” thought the young man. “Each one of them puts himself first, and the only thing that brings them together—the only thing they have in common—is Baras. Zakorth is really only protected by its reputation. The land around them is the most dangerous place in the Known Lands, but our forces would only have to reach its gate to be able to reduce it to cinders.”
“Listen,” he announced out loud. “Our adversaries take advantage of this place for their evil plans. We should destroy it so that they can’t gather there anymore. It would take a small army, though, and I know that Rozak, the king of men isn’t ready to do that. The reputation our enemies have made for Zakorth is their best protection, because rather than trying to protect the village, they’ve managed to make it so that it won’t be attacked in the first place. If that illusion falls, though, the village will fall with it.” Heads nodded silently at his words.
“You,” Glaide added, pointing to the men, “need to spread that news. You are living proof that Zakorth could be defeated. When the time comes, the Destroyer will call on you. But for now, your mission is to simply spread the truth.”
“Right. We’ll explain to everyone that there is nothing to fear in that place.” Then, Glaide turned towards the barbarian.
“Skelf, my friend,” he began, the term brightening the warrior’s face with joy, “I don’t know yet how things will go in the end, but I think that the help of you and your clan will be very welcome. Return to your men, take back what belongs to you, and prepare for combat.”
“My people and I will be ready when the time comes, you can be certain of that.” The adolescent smiled at that before turning to the dwarves and elves.
“Your people have lived in the shadows for a long time now, and I will have to seek their aid. If you stand with us, I believe we’ll be able to change the world. I believe that solidarity among the peoples is our only chance of defeating Baras and making sure that a lasting peace comes to this world.”
“We cannot speak for our people,” replied an elf, “but we will not forget what you have done for us. We will tell them what is happening, but I cannot promise that our kind, after five hundred years of staying out of things, will decide to act.”
The dwarves nodded before adding,, “what we accomplished here was quite a feat, and it wouldn’t have been possible without all of us. We checked Baras and his troops, and even though this was an insignificant victory in the long run, it is witness to the fact that when the peoples are united, they can accomplish great things. We’ll speak to Gardock, but he is the only one who can decide what we will do.”
The young man was satisfied with their replies. He hadn’t expected them to announce that the dwarves and elves would follow him, but at least this had been a chance to see the races allied together, as they were in the time of Novak and Dzen.
They decided then to set up guard duty for the night. Glaide, despite the fact that he’d easily wake at the first suspicious sound anyway, agreed with the idea. Their shelter provided an excellent view of their surroundings, and it would have been a shame not to take advantage of it, not to mention that they were in enemy territory, and being tracked, on top of that. They planned to watch in pairs, though Glaide insisted on taking his shift alone, instead encouraging the young woman who would have been paired with him to sleep. He decided to take the first watch. The others were exhausted, and he preferred to let them rest for a bit. They put out the fire, then they each found a spot to settle in on the ground. One of the men offered the young woman a cape he’d taken from Zakorth to use as a blanket. The grass was thick, and in the eyes of the group, it was the best mattress they’d had in a long time.
Glaide, on the other hand, settled in on a flat rock near the entrance. There, leaning against the wall, he had only to look slightly to the right to see all of their surroundings, and slightly left to see their camp.
Bit by bit, his companions’ breathing became slow and regular, until he was sure they were all asleep. With a smile, he remembered how, just days earlier, he’d been trying to imagine the days to come. He certainly hadn’t pictured meeting elves, starting a small battle in the middle of a village, and finally finding himself sitting here on this hill, gazing at the stars, accompanied by a band of slaves on the run. Yes, he’d missed this kind of adventure.
“I don’t know if I attract problems or what, but every time I travel alone, something seems to happen,” he commented to himself. Even from the very start, he’d never found these journeys dull. Tiring, undeniably, and difficult sometimes, sure—especially when the solitude seemed endless—but never dull. He sighed happily. Yes, happily. He was happy.
There was one shadow on the scene, however. The main goal of his expedition to the village had failed miserably; he still had no information on where he could find his friends. He was about to start contemplating what he could do about that when he noticed that the young woman wasn’t sleeping. Laying on her back, she had her gaze fixed on the inky black sky. She moved a little, and her gaze crossed Glaide’s. He smiled back, and for a moment, he thought she returned the smile; it was dark, though, and he couldn’t say for sure. She got up then, and came over to where he was. The young man found a rock and moved it next to his, and the woman sat down on it in silence.
“Are you okay?” the young man asked quietly, so he wouldn't disturb the others. She nodded. “Good. Tomorrow, we’ll continue to the north. By the end of the day, I think we’ll be out of Zakorth’s territory.” The girl couldn’t hold back a shiver as she heard that word, and Glaide made a mental note to avoid the word in the future, or at least until she began to speak again, and could explain who she was and where she came from. One thought had come to him that evening, though.
“Tomorrow, we’ll likely all go our separate ways. The dwarves will head towards the northeast, and Skelf towards the northwest, while the humans and elves will head straight north, towards Shinozuka and their forest, respectively. However, I’m not ready to head towards the capital, and I don’t think I can offer Skelf any help. And going to live in the mountains or the woods doesn’t particularly interest me.” He hesitated for a moment, but the look on his companion's face encouraged him to continue. “So, this is my question. Where are you going?” She didn’t seem to understand his question. “Where is your home? Your family?” She pointed to the east. “That way,” murmured the boy. “Then, I would go with you,
if you like. I’d take you home.” This time, he was sure of one thing: the girl smiled at him. It was a timid smile, as if she couldn’t quite believe what he was saying. Tears pearled up in the corner of her eyes, and the adolescent understood that to her, he represented her only hope to see her loved ones again. She got up, and Glaide watched her head back and lay down again. For the first time since they’d met, it seemed like she might actually be happy.
“And it’s a good thing, too,” he thought. “At the very least, this way, I’ll have some company, and we’ll have time to talk on the road. I hope she’ll finally start talking again...” He was relieved, too, to have a goal for the days to come. His failure in Zakorth weighed on him especially much so because he’d thought for so long about how he could get news about his friends, and the village had seemed like the best option, and maybe even the only one. “If only I hadn’t gotten so rough with the tavern keeper,” he chastised himself. “If I’d just paid him a bit more, I could have gotten the information I was looking for!”
But dwelling on the past never accomplishes anything, and dwelling on the future would unfortunately bring no consolation. He had no idea what he should do next, and his only remaining option was to hope he came across his friends by accident.
“Right,” he murmured. “I’ll take this girl back to her home, and then I’ll improvise. I’ll try to learn something along the way, and with a bit of luck, Jeremy, Gwenn, and Emily will have made a name for themselves. And maybe they’re looking for me, too.” He didn’t really see how, but he’d have to continue on his way.
He stared off into the motionless darkness, thinking that this new journey would do nothing but put off the inevitable: one day or another, he’d have to go on his way alone. A few minutes went by, or perhaps hours; Glaide couldn’t say for sure. The two men came, though, to take their watch. The adolescent wished them luck and went to lie down. He fell asleep almost immediately.
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