Williams, D M - Renegade Chronicles [Collection 1-3]

by David Michael Williams

  Arthur did not return his stare. He was looking over at Ruben again.

  Stannel wanted to believe Arthur. Everything he had said was possible, even if much of it was improbable. Stannel walked away from the Renegades without saying a word and came to kneel beside Aric. He didn’t even have to ask the question.

  “I don’t think I can save him,” she said quietly. “His heartbeat is weak, and his breathing is irregular. He has several broken bones. And he has only just recovered from his past injuries…”

  And he is old, thought Stannel.

  Just then, Toemis’s eyes popped open. Aric inhaled sharply in surprise. When the old man’s dark eyes met his, Stannel found himself again wondering if Toemis Blisnes were truly capable of doing the wicked things Arthur told.

  He expected Toemis to ask a question like “Where am I?” or “What happened?” Instead, he said, “I’m dying.”

  “Don’t say such things,” Aric said, brushing his sweat-soaked bangs from his forehead. “You can fight this, and Mystel willing, you will be as good as new before long.”

  The old man let out a laugh, which instantly changed into a loud, hacking cough. When he tried to speak again, Aric insisted that he conserve his strength.

  “No,” Toemis croaked. “I’m going to die on this mountain, and that’s how it should be. But before I do, I want to tell you why.”

  Aric started to protest, but Stannel silenced her with a gentle touch. If Toemis had last words—a final confession, as it were—then the old man had a right to speak.

  When Toemis continued, his voice was soft and scratchy. “I haven’t been honest with any of you. I did work at Fort Faith at one time, but I wasn’t a cook. I was a Knight. I was also young and foolish and fell in love with a miner’s daughter from Port Stone. I spent every free moment with Julia, and I knew I would marry her one day.

  “But then the ogres came. I was called to defend the fortress while Julia and her family remained in the town. From reconnaissance reports, we knew the ogres outnumbered us Knights more than ten to one. Many wanted to abandon the fort and fall back to Steppt, but our commander refused to give Fort Faith and Port Stone to the brutes.

  “It was hopeless, and we all knew it. Our deaths were guaranteed. Young as I was, I might have happily given my life for the cause, but I knew once the ogres finished with Fort Faith, they’d move on to Port Stone. The thought of an ogre ravaging my fair Julia was too much. I had to go to her, no matter the consequences.”

  Toemis’s squinty eyes stared up at the sky. Stannel suspected the man was peering back through time to the dark days of the Ogre War. Stannel had met a few of the older Knights who had lived through the Thanatan Conflict—as the Ogre War was currently being called—but none of them had been eager to discuss their harrowing clashes with the ogres.

  “I fled to Port Stone, using the same secret tunnel as last night. I had learned of the passageway’s existence by sheer luck, having overheard my commander speak of it to his lieutenant. It was to be the Knights’ last hope of survival if the keep fell.

  “But I wasn’t going to wait for that eventuality. I stole away from the fort and hurried to Port Stone, where I convinced Julia to run away with me. Abandoning her family…just as I had left my only family, the Knighthood, behind…Julia and I fled under the cover of night, hoping to outpace the ogre armies and leave Capricon altogether.

  “The ogres arrived the early the next day. From atop this very mountain, Julia and I watched the brutes overrun Fort Faith and then the Port of Stone. From up here, I watched my comrades get slaughtered for a hopeless cause. A part of me died that day too, but I was happy to trade my honor for my life…and for love.

  “It was during the voyage across the Strait that I learned I was to be a father. Julia and I married as soon as we reached West Cape. We stayed in a small town, and I worked odd jobs until the baby, our son, was born. It was a difficult birth, and Julia was still very young. She died the day after our son was born, and I named him Julian in her honor.”

  Toemis paused again, and Stannel saw tears welling up at the corner of the old man’s eyes. Horcalus, Scout, and Arthur had wandered over to listen to the old man’s life story. The mountainside was silent as everyone waited for him to continue.

  “Were it not for the babe, I would have killed myself. Eventually, we settled down in Gresshel, a small town in Param. I worked as a militiaman for the next thirty-some years. It was a far cry from being a Knight of Superius, but being a warrior was all I knew.

  “As Julian grew up, I realized that while he resembled his mother in appearance, he wasn’t much like her in spirit. He was a troublesome child, though I blame myself for that now. I let him get away with anything, for he was all I had left of Julia. It only got worse when he reached adolescence. We argued every day about one thing or another. One day, he left Gresshel without saying goodbye.”

  A coughing fit seized Toemis, and for a moment, Stannel feared the old man’s tale must end prematurely. After a few seconds, however, he waved away Aric with a grimace.

  “I didn’t hear from Julian for eighteen years,” he said at last. “Perhaps it was coincidence that he returned to Gresshel on the first day of my retirement. He brought with him a bride almost half his age. Julian had changed much in the years he was gone…none of it for the better. And he now had Larissa to take out his frustrations on.

  “Julian spent most of his time scheming down at the tavern. He would disappear for a while, but he always came back. Once he was gone for two years. I did what I could to comfort Larissa. I lied to her, telling her Julian would return once he had ‘found his fortune,’ as he was wont to say.

  “Meanwhile, we lived off of my savings and Larissa’s sewing. She became like a daughter to me, like the child I should have had in Julian’s place.

  “When Julian did return, he was none the richer for his absence. He begged Larissa for forgiveness, swearing he would never leave her again. How I wished she would refuse him…to rebuke Julian like I never could. But Larissa loved him despite his many flaws.

  “Nine months later, Zusha was born. We knew she was different from the very first day. She didn’t cry at all, even when the midwife slapped her bottom. When Zusha opened her eyes, we saw one was blue, like Larissa’s, and the other was brown, like her father’s. She was a sleepwalker. We would find her out in the garden some mornings…and then her episodes started happening during the day as well.”

  After Toemis’s next coughing fit, Aric trickled some water into his mouth.

  “He needs to rest, Stannel. Now is not the time—”

  “No!” Toemis shouted, his voice suddenly loud and strong. “The truth must be told!”

  To calm him, Aric assured him they would let him speak, though she didn’t look happy about the compromise.

  “One afternoon, Zusha disappeared. We searched all day for her, only to find her lying on the ground in the nearby wood. When we approached her, all manner of reptile and creeping thing scattered—snakes, lizards, turtles. Zusha’s eyes were open, but she didn’t respond to our questions. It was as if she were in a trance. We took her home, where she slept all through the following day. When she awoke, she couldn’t remember anything about her time in the woods.

  “Because of her peculiarities, Zusha had few friends. She spent most of her time at home. But while Larissa loved her daughter more than anything in the world, Julian kept his distance. In the end, we would’ve all been better off if he’d never come back.”

  Toemis stopped again, though this time he seemed to be organizing his thoughts.

  “One day, Julian got it in his head to rob the town’s treasury. You see, they had given him a job as a militiaman after I gave my word he was as trustworthy and hardworking as I had been.

  “Julian planned to steal every coin in the treasury and flee before anyone was the wiser. And he might have succeeded too. He got the money without a problem, but then Julian made a mistake…an error that was the first of its k
ind in the man’s life.

  “Julian came back for his family.

  “While I was out, he came for Larissa and Zusha and convinced them to run away with him. By the time he gathered supplies for the road, the theft was discovered, and the crime was traced to Julian. The militia came after him in full force. With a wife and daughter in tow, he couldn’t hope to outpace his pursuers.

  “When they tracked him through the wood and demanded his surrender, Julian’s stubbornness rose to new heights. In desperation, he grabbed Zusha, only six at the time, and held a dagger to her throat. He threatened to kill her if anyone came closer.

  “I wasn’t there, but there were enough eyewitnesses to confirm the unnatural events that happened next. Not wanting the little girl’s bloodshed on their hands, the militiamen backed off. Larissa was too frightened to do anything, but she didn’t need to because suddenly, the forest was filled with howling wolves.

  “When the wolves attacked, each and every one of them went for Julian. The wolves tore him apart. Zusha remained untouched, however. After killing my son, the beasts dispersed. The town treasury was retrieved, and Larissa and Zusha were allowed to return to Gresshel.

  “Some described it as a miracle, claiming Cressela herself protected Zusha, but others whispered she was a changeling or a demon-child who had the ability to command nature. We kept to ourselves after that and were content in our own simple way.

  “We might still be living in Gresshel were it not for a certain boy who had made it his life’s mission to torment Zusha. Whenever she played outside, the boy would be there, teasing her. Usually, my presence at the window was enough to frighten him away, but as he got older, he got braver.”

  Toemis coughed, clenching his eyelids shut as a spasm wracked his chest. Throughout the telling of his story, his voice had grown more and more hoarse. When Toemis started again, his voice was even quieter than before.

  “A few months back, the bully and his gang mustered up the courage to approach Zusha where she was playing in the garden. I don’t rightly know what happened next. Larissa and I were in the house, and we heard an awful screaming. By the time we got outside, all but a few of the boys had run away. Only their leader was still in our yard.

  “The screaming was coming from the bully. He was covered in birds of all sorts and sizes. They were pecking him like he was made out of grain. Larissa and I managed to scare them away before they did any permanent damage, but by then a crowd had formed around our house.

  “His mother and father were out for blood. They riled up the rest more of the townsfolk, accusing Zusha of being a witch. They said it was only a matter of time before she killed someone. They wanted to burn Zusha alive, but I still had some friends in the militia. They scattered the mob, and I thought that was that.

  “The mob came for her in the early morning. Wielding kitchen knives and pitchforks, they broke down our door. When the bully’s mother tried to push past Larissa to get into Zusha’s room, Larissa shoved her back. A scuffle ensued, and before I could do a thing to stop it, someone’s blade found its way into Larissa’s breast. She died almost instantly. The mob panicked, and everyone fled.

  “It was at that moment…with my daughter through marriage dead in my arms…that I knew what I had to do. It was only a matter of time before trouble turned up again, so I collected my granddaughter and all the gold Larissa and I had been saving for Zusha’s future. We left Gresshel and didn’t stop until we reached a port in West Cape and set sail for Capricon.”

  You then landed in Rydah, where you hired Mitto O’erlander to take you back to Fort Faith, Stannel silently concluded.

  Now, Toemis’s eyes were closed, and Stannel worried the elderly man—who had to be at least eighty years old—would die before he provided the final piece of the puzzle. After a few seconds of silence, however, Toemis went on.

  “There was but one thing to do,” he echoed. “I brought a curse upon my family the day I betrayed the Order. I put my personal desires above my duty. I should have died an honorable death at Fort Faith alongside my comrades. It was on this mountain that my soul was tainted, and this is where I will die, paying my debt to the gods.”

  “But what about Zusha?” Aric asked. “Why did you bring her here?”

  Toemis’s gray lips tightened into what could have been a grin or a grimace. “Just as I was responsible for Julian’s sins, I am also responsible for Zusha’s. Julian was a bad seed. Zusha is something far worse. In her, the curse has manifested itself through unnatural proclivities. She’s an abomination.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Aric interjected. “You don’t actually believe—”

  “Don’t you?” Toemis demanded. “You saw that creature she called to protect her. I didn’t think she would use her magic against me, but the evil grows stronger in her day by day.”

  “She’s not evil,” Aric argued. “She’s just a girl!”

  Toemis didn’t seem to hear her. “Gods forgive me for leaving her behind. Gods forgive me…”

  Then the old man said no more.

  Stannel continued to stare down at Toemis even as Aric tried to breathe life back into him. He knew that the healer was wasting her time, but he also knew that Aric would never forsake her duty. She would try to revive him until there was no hope whatsoever.

  Eventually, Aric ceased in her efforts and rose to her feet. “There was nothing I could do. He would not fight for his life.”

  Stannel nodded. There were tears in Aric’s eyes, though he didn’t know whether they were a result of Toemis’s story or his death. He decided it was probably both. Aric held the highest regard for life, no matter what sins her patient had committed.

  She wouldn’t want to leave Wizard’s Mountain without Zusha…

  Stannel said a prayer to the Great Protector to watch over the former Knight’s soul before turning away from the body. He now faced Horcalus, Scout, and Arthur. All three men wore solemn expressions.

  Stannel stepped past the Renegades and looked up the mountain trail, wondering where the mysterious, not-so-little girl was headed.

  Passage XIV

  Night covered the land by the time they returned to new Fort Valor.

  Although he had slept most of the way back from Wizard’s Mountain, Ruben still felt tired. It was as though the magnitude of the recent events was only hitting him now, leaving both his body and mind heavy with fatigue.

  Miraculously, aside from this lethargy, a few sore ribs, and a plethora of bruises, Ruben felt all right Yet he didn’t argue when Sister Aric told him he would be spending the night in the infirmary for observation.

  Once they reached the stables, Stannel quickly departed. Arthur and his Renegade friends did not dawdle either, and Ruben supposed the three of them were off to report what had happened to Klye Tristan. His eyes lingered on Arthur as the boy limped away. The two of them had shared quite an experience together, and he wished he could think of something profound to say to his erstwhile partner.

  As he and Aric made their way to the infirmary, Ruben’s thoughts turned inward. He had never been closer to death than when the stone giant had seized him with its massive hands. He was lucky to be alive, though he couldn’t help but feel a bit useless. This was, after all, the second time Aric had had to save his life. While Stannel had wounded the giant, Aric was the one who tended to his wounds, the one who would, again, nurse him back to health.

  Ruben wished that he could repay the favor and be her hero just once.

  He wondered if Aric would have mourned him? What was he to her? Just another patient? A criminal? Had he ever given her a reason to think otherwise?

  When he stopped suddenly, Aric paused a few steps later and gave him a confused look.

  “Are you all right, Ruben?”

  Looking into Aric’s sapphire eyes, he realized imminent death was far easier to bear than the promise of rejection. But he also knew that he could not turn back now. He would not live another day trapped in a lie.

  �
��I have a confession to make,” he said finally. “I am not a wizard. I don’t know any spells. The only reason I ever donned this gray robe was in order to trick people into believing I was a wizard so I could intimidate people into handing over their money. I’ve spent the past few years working in the Thief Guild in Rydah, and when it disbanded, I became a highwayman.”

  Aric said nothing at first. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because…because I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not. I’m just an ordinary man, and it’s not right for you to go on believing I’m special. I should have told you right away, but I thought you’d at least respect me if you thought I could wield magic. I…I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

  Aric’s face eased into a smile. “Ruben, the first time I saw you, you were filthy, gagged, and hog-tied on the floor. How could I possibly think less of you?”

  Ruben blinked in surprise. Then he laughed in spite of himself. “Just so you know, I’m never going to steal again. I never liked doing it anyway.”

  “How did you get involved with the Guild to begin with, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  Ruben certainly did not mind. This was the longest conversation he had had with Sister Aric, and he never wanted it to end.

  “Ever since I was young, I wanted to be a stage-performer. Only, I wasn’t very good at singing or acting. I couldn’t earn a living doing what I liked best, and the only other thing I knew how to do was dig graves…my father’s job. One day, a cousin of mine told me about a friend of his who worked for the Guild. Capricon was a long way from Superius, but I was desperate for work.

  “In the Guild, I was able to apply my modest talents to stealing. I didn’t like taking other people’s money, but that wasn’t my job…not really. My role was to distract the mark while one of my cohorts lifted the valuables. I never got comfortable with being a criminal, but I have to admit it felt good to earn a living through my acting. But I’m done with that now.”