Mindbender

by David A. Wells

  “I fear they will have it,” the general said.

  Word spread quickly through the streets of Fellenden. Even before Lacy had returned to the palace with her father and his entourage, there was the stirring of panic within the populace.

  Not ten minutes after they returned to the King’s council chamber, a soldier burst in. “Your Majesty, the gates are breached!” the young man said with a quaver of fear in his voice. “A beast of magic is rampaging within the city walls and the enemy cavalry comes.”

  The King of Fellenden looked at his son and his daughter, all that was left of the line of Fellenden, and his resolve hardened. He was an old man. His life was behind him, but he had married late in life and his children were just barely adults.

  “General, muster what defense you can. Raise the alarm and warn the people of the city to flee to the surrounding towns and territories. We cannot hope to defend against this enemy, so we must do what we can to preserve the lives of our people. Use your forces to provide the people with the time they need to survive the onslaught.

  “Torin, send riders to the other territories with warning of the enemy at our gates. You ride with them. Organize the forces of the other territories into an army under our banner. Do not fight the enemy on their terms. Use your knowledge of our lands to kill them when and where you can without battle. We cannot win in an outright fight so don’t give them one.

  “Lacy, take Wizard Saul and go to Ithilian. King Abel has long been our friend. Beg him for any assistance he can offer. I saved his life once when he was a boy. Remind him of that if necessary.”

  Lacy shook her head in denial but King Fellenden stepped up and drew his son and daughter away from the others in the room. “Lacy, I’m entrusting you with the legacy of the line of Fellenden,” he said as he pressed an ancient key into her hand. “Take this key to the family crypt in the south and find the tomb of Carlyle Fellenden. He ruled during the last years of the Reishi War. Within his sarcophagus is a small box. Take it with you to Ithilian and deliver it to Lord Abel’s court wizard. Do not open it, Lacy. The wizards will know what to do with it. It cannot be allowed to fall into Zuhl’s hands.”

  “Father, what will you do?” Lacy asked.

  He smiled sadly at his daughter. “I will do everything I can to preserve our people. Now off, both of you and know that I love you.” He held his son and daughter each in turn with his eyes and then turned to an aid. “Bring my sword and armor.”

  Torin hugged Lacy quickly. “Be safe and listen to Wizard Saul. He’s wise. I love you,” he said and then dashed off toward the stables.

  Lacy could hardly believe how quickly things were happening. Just last week she was trying on yet another new dress and fussing about the stitching. Now her whole world was coming undone.

  “Lacy, we have to go quickly,” Wizard Saul said. “Go to your room and change into your riding clothes, pack your saddlebags, and get your knife. I’ll meet you at the stables.”

  Lacy nodded. It took her a moment to realize that she hadn’t moved and then she was running. Her fear propelled her through the stone corridors of her home and up the stairs to her elaborate rooms. She ripped off her light-blue dress and quickly changed into riding clothes. She shoved an extra set of clothes into her saddlebags, crammed a heavy blanket into the other side, and grabbed her little-used waterskin and long knife.

  She’d learned how to fight with a knife when she was younger, but it had seemed like such an academic exercise. Now she was striving to revive those lessons as she strapped the blade to her waist. She slipped a smaller knife into her boot and hoisted her saddlebags onto her shoulder.

  She looked at her rooms one last time before she left. The light pastels and elaborate decoration seemed jarringly frivolous. She snorted with derision at what she’d made of her life and vowed that she would live up to the duty her father had assigned her. She tried not to think about him as she made her way to the stables. In the back of her mind she knew with terrible certainty that she would never see him again.

  Soldiers were running and servants were scurrying about in near panic. Lacy tried not to let their fear infect her. The whole keep suddenly shook from a blow that rang the stone walls like a bell. She tried to swallow past a lump of fear in her throat. As she bounded down the stairs and into the courtyard, the main gate shuddered under another mighty blow from something that could not be of this world. She froze and watched splinters from the giant gates flutter to the ground. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The gate reverberated with the force of another attack, sending more splinters falling to the gatehouse floor. Soldiers poured into the courtyard prepared to meet whatever may come, but Lacy could see the fear in their eyes. Even the more experienced among the palace guard were afraid—or worse, they had a look of terrible resolve mixed with certainty that their time in this world was short.

  “Lacy!” bellowed Wizard Saul from the stables.

  She tried to pull her attention away from the impending doom that was trying to shatter the palace gate but couldn’t. The gate shuddered again and the mighty Iron Oak bar that held it shut against the assault started to crack.

  Lacy snapped out of her trance and raced to the stables. Wizard Saul took her saddlebags and flopped them over the rump of her horse. He wasted no time strapping them down and helping her into the saddle. The horse was skittish and snorted with fear at the commotion out in the courtyard. Wizard Saul whispered something to the big animal and the beast calmed almost immediately.

  He mounted his horse and took up his staff. “Follow me, Lacy. Do not get separated from me. My magic can get us out of the city but you must do as I say without question.”

  She nodded tightly. The courtyard gates gave way with a thunderous crash. Wizard Saul led her cautiously into the courtyard just as the beast pushed through the ruins of the gate.

  It stood twelve feet tall and looked like it was made of dark stone. It had broad shoulders and long powerful arms that ended in hammer-like stumps the size of a keg of ale. It walked on two legs but had no head or neck and only a single large eye in the middle of its chest. Lacy was stunned by how unnatural the beast looked. It was a thing that belonged in a nightmare.

  The soldiers attacked with arrows and spears but the beast’s skin was as hard as stone. It waded into the gathering sea of men, swinging its mighty fists in great arcs. The sound of bones breaking could be heard every time it made contact. A man in full armor flew through the air and landed with a sickening thud, never to move again.

  Outside the gates, there was chaos. The people of the city were running every which way. Wizard Saul started chanting in an old language. Lacy could only watch the carnage unfold before her. The wizard finished his spell and turned to her.

  “You must remain absolutely silent,” he said before he took her reins and gently led the horses from the courtyard past the flailing demon and the growing field of human wreckage. The beast didn’t seem to notice them and the soldiers either didn’t see them or were too preoccupied to care.

  Once they reached the streets, Lacy caught a glimpse of the army headed for her city. Thousands of men on horseback galloped across the plains in the distance. With the gates smashed by the demon, there would be little to stop them.

  Wizard Saul stopped their horses and allowed a group of friendly soldiers to race by on horseback. They didn’t seem to notice Lacy or the old wizard. Once they passed, Wizard Saul started moving again. He was taking her toward the south gates where they could escape the city before the enemy horde arrived.

  They moved slowly and cautiously through the streets of Fellenden. The people were fleeing with what they could carry, and the streets were clogged. Saul guided her down the lesser traveled passageways between buildings to avoid the panicked crowds. When they did encounter people, Saul stopped and remained very still and quiet. Lacy watched one person after the next look right at her and go about their business as if they hadn’t seen her.

  As they neared the
south gate, there was a loud cracking noise off in the distance. Lacy turned just in time to watch the central tower of the keep topple over and crash with thunderous noise. She felt the reverberations of her home’s death throes and swallowed hard to stifle a sob when the throng of people streaming through the gate started screaming in panic.

  They parted like water as a platoon of enemy soldiers pushed their way into the city. They wielded all manner of weapons, from spears to battle-axes, great swords to menacing-looking flails. The people who were trying to flee through the gate scattered before the onslaught.

  Enemy soldiers hacked and slashed at anyone near enough to reach. Men, women, and even children fell to their indiscriminate assault. Lacy looked on with a mixture of shock and morbid curiosity. In the back of her mind, she wondered how she’d managed to live for eighteen years without ever even knowing that men like these existed. She had been so sheltered and protected all her life that she’d never actually seen anyone die before. Now there were broken bodies crumpled in lurid pools of crimson lying all around.

  The slaughter lasted only a few minutes before the remaining civilians fled the open area around the gate. The soldiers didn’t pursue but instead took up positions to prevent anyone from escaping through the gate, keeping the people inside the city so they could be enslaved or murdered more easily.

  Wizard Saul looked at Lacy and gestured for silence. The men surveyed the scene of the battle with the intensity of trained hunters but they didn’t see Lacy or the wizard.

  Saul looked deep in thought. Lacy realized that they were trapped and her fear started to push its way through her shock. Saul reached out and touched her on the forehead with his index finger. She heard his voice clear as day, yet his mouth remained closed.

  “When I attack those men, we must use the confusion to escape the city,” Saul said in her mind. “Once outside the walls, run south with all possible speed. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Lacy nodded with wide eyes. She wasn’t sure it was wise to attack thirty armed men but she also knew that Wizard Saul was smarter and more experienced than she was. All she could do was trust his guidance.

  Twenty of the men had formed a line in front of the gate, while the other ten dismounted and entered the gatehouse to close the portcullis and bar the gate.

  Wizard Saul whispered the words of his spell for several minutes. Lacy started to wonder if he would attack before the gate was closed and their only escape cut off. He raised his staff and spoke the final word with firm authority.

  At the sound of his voice, the soldiers all turned and looked directly at the two of them as if they’d just appeared out of nowhere. Before they could react, the tip of Wizard Saul’s staff glowed bright amber and a wave of light pulsed out toward the soldiers. As it passed through them, they froze in place. A shimmering field of amber surrounded each soldier and their mounts, immobilizing them completely.

  “Hurry, the spell won’t last for long,” Wizard Saul said, and they were off at a gallop.

  They raced through the gate and out onto the fields surrounding the city of Fellenden. People were fleeing in every direction. Those on foot were not even a mile from the city as Lacy and Saul raced past. She looked back and saw a squad of soldiers in pursuit. They didn’t seem interested in the civilians. It was clear from their course that they were coming for Lacy and the wizard.

  Saul reined in his horse and slowed to a stop. “Lacy, I’m going to cast another concealing spell. We must be quiet and walk our horses slowly or they will see through the magic.”

  Lacy nodded and the wizard began casting his spell. They moved away slowly and quietly as the enemy soldiers charged past.

  By nightfall they’d made it into the mountains southwest of Fellenden city. Lacy could see smoke rising in the distance. She quietly cried herself to sleep in the dark of night, clutching the key her father had given her. Her safe, perfect little world was gone. In its place was a world of fear and death. Lacy wasn’t sure she knew how to live in such a world.

  Chapter 15

  Isabel and Wren stood on the observation platform overlooking the flight deck where Abigail was training with her wyvern. The beast had grown quickly and taken to wing less than a week after hatching. Abigail had been spending most of her time with Knight Raja learning about her wyvern and the code of the Sky Knights.

  Today would be her first flight. It was a simple introduction to riding a flying steed. Abigail and Raja were to make a single loop around the fortress island and return to the flight deck. When they disappeared over the edge of the flight deck a moment after launch, Isabel stopped breathing. She had to remind herself to take a breath as she waited for Abigail to return.

  She closed her eyes and tipped her head back. Slyder was floating high over the island. Through his eyes, she could see Abigail soaring in a wide arc that would bring her full circle around the island and back to the flight deck. She looked a little unsteady and her wyvern didn’t fly with the same grace as Knight Raja’s, but she was managing to stay in the air. At this point that was all that mattered. Isabel stayed with Slyder until Abigail was nearing the flight deck for her landing.

  “Here they come,” Isabel said to Wren.

  The wide-eyed waif of a girl was nearly as excited as Isabel. She had become a fixture of their lives in the fortress island. Her assigned duty was to serve them and maintain their quarters but she had become much more than that.

  She was their friend.

  She shared meals with them and spent any free time she had tagging along behind them. Her curiosity was innocent and somewhat naïve but she had become more comfortable asking questions. She was always eager to hear any stories they had to tell of life outside the fortress island and yearned for the opportunity to see more of the world.

  Abigail came into view out over the ocean. Her wyvern was flying unsteadily and they were coming in too high. She overcorrected at the last moment and they landed hard, her wyvern skidding to a stop on his belly. Abigail looked a little rattled by the experience but she shook it off quickly and was off her steed a moment later hoisting the hindquarter of a calf from the feed cart for him. He struggled for a minute to get to his feet but eagerly took the snack just as Raja landed gently nearby.

  A throng of wyvern handlers swarmed the beasts, removing their saddles and tack while the riders fed their steeds. Once the wyverns were led off toward the stables, Raja and Mistress Bianca took Abigail aside to critique her first flight. Even at this distance, Isabel could see that Abigail wasn’t happy with her landing but the more experienced Sky Knights didn’t seem too concerned about it.

  A horn sounded from the watchtower on the side of the landing platform signaling that another wyvern was inbound. Isabel watched as two more wyverns floated into the landing bay and touched down gracefully.

  Her heart started beating a little faster when she realized that one of the riders was Magda. The triumvir had been away from the fortress island for several days. Isabel suspected that she’d been looking for Alexander. The triumvir dismounted and fed her wyvern while handlers removed its tack and saddle. She gave her steed a pat on the side of the jaw and strode purposefully from the landing bay.

  Abigail and Isabel shared a look.

  Isabel hurried back to her quarters with Wren in tow. She wanted to speak to Magda but knew that she would have to wait for the triumvirate to summon her. She wanted to be easy to find when the summons came.

  Abigail arrived a few minutes later.

  “How was it?” Isabel asked with a smile.

  “It was the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done,” Abigail said with giddy happiness. “I’ve always loved to ride but this is beyond anything I’ve ever even dreamed of. I was pretty embarrassed by my landing, but Flight Commander Bianca said it was common for the first flight to end with a hard landing. Did you see Magda return?”

  Isabel nodded with a frown. “I’d love to know what she’s been up to. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with A
lexander.”

  “Me, too,” Abigail said. “Hopefully, they’ll summon us so we can get some answers.”

  Almost as if on cue there was a knock at the door. Wren answered it and a Sky Knight entered.

  “The triumvirate has summoned you both,” he said. “Please come with me.”

  Isabel schooled her nervousness as they walked through the corridors toward the triumvirs’ hall. The giant room was empty except for the three women who had been their hosts and jailers for the past several weeks. Two chairs were waiting for them before the triumvirs’ bench. Isabel figured they used the grandeur of the room to lend credence to their authority. She understood well enough the power of appearances. She and Abigail took their seats without a word and the guard excused himself, leaving them alone with the three women.

  Magda and Cassandra wore expressions of caution but Gabriella was clearly angry.

  Isabel reminded herself that they may still be in danger. The reality of the situation brought her focus to a razor’s edge.

  “Thank you for joining us here today,” Magda said. “I trust your stay with us has been comfortable.”

  This was new. Magda was usually very direct. Isabel wondered if the acceptance of Abigail into the Sky Knights had somehow changed their standing on the island or if there was more to it than that.

  “It has,” Isabel said, “after the initial unpleasantness, anyway.”

  Gabriella’s mood seemed to darken perceptibly. Isabel reminded herself to tread lightly.

  “I’ve just come from the Isle of Ithilian,” Magda said.

  Isabel’s heart started pounding in her chest. Alexander was on Ithilian but the triumvirate didn’t know she was aware of that. She still hadn’t revealed the existence of Slyder to them and didn’t intend to, since he offered her access to information that she desperately needed.

  “I’ve spoken to Alexander,” Magda continued.

  Isabel had to remind herself to breathe.