The Godlost Land

by Curtis, Greg

  “I'm on my way to Whitebrook now and I will find this man and kill him. And a few others as well. If nothing else there's supposed to be an arcane smith out there who's supplying the High Priestess' army with quality weapons. And the fury looks hungry.”

  “Good.”

  Terellion wasn't worried by White Tail being out alone in what had now become an enemy land. The faun might not be as powerful as him, but still with his magic he was more than capable of looking after himself against a bunch of peasants and partisan rebels. And the thrall travelling with him was dressed in peasant attire while the fury could fly. They should attract no attention they couldn't deal with. He was more worried about the rest of the Circle wizards, scattered as they were. Because all of them were in cities that sooner or later the High Priestess would be coming for. At some point he knew he would have to bring them back to Lion's Crest, because the one thing he couldn't afford was any more deaths. Not when each one might in turn kill him. He'd rather lose the other four kingdoms than any more of the Circle.

  “Go.”

  Terellion dismissed White Tail, as always a little surprised that he could. In theory as a wizard of the mind he should have been one of the hardest to control. But in practice he had been one of the easiest. Terellion had simply taken him and then reshaped him into his own image. The faun no longer had any curiosity about many things. In fact he was almost completely unquestioning. It never occurred to him to ask why they were doing what they were doing. It never occurred to him to wonder why a supposed summoner like Terellion could speak to him across the leagues. He was loyal without even wondering why. If only everyone was so easy to control!

  It was time to go Terellion decided. His pets were still showing no signs no matter how closely he inspected them, and he had business to attend to. But as he walked to the door of the dungeon and the stairs leading up to the rest of the castle, he couldn't help but notice that the two guards were staring carefully into the distance – making sure not to look at him. And he knew why. He didn't have to read their minds to know.

  They'd heard him talking and seen no one around and so assumed he was either talking to a beast or to himself. They thought he was losing his mind. And for some reason that annoyed him. A lot. And ever since the deaths of three of his Circle he'd been in a bad mood. So he walked up to them and spoke to both at once.

  “Your comrade here is sleeping with your woman. I'd suggest killing him before he kills you.”

  He didn't have to say anything more than that. He didn't even have to look behind him to know what was happening as the two soldiers stared at one another and gripped their weapons tightly. Before he'd made even half a dozen steps along the corridor beyond them he heard the first angry yells and the clash of metal on metal. It made him smile.

  It was a small magic, nothing worthy of a wizard like him. But they had had the gall to doubt him. And in time they would have gossiped. This was much better.

  Besides, he decided as he carried on and more soldiers came running past him to stop the two soldiers from killing each other, maybe he had his next two volunteers for the breeding program? After all, attacking your fellow soldiers was a form of treason, wasn't it? And the furies were looking so lonely in their cages.

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  It was evening and the camp was quiet. It was most nights. After the initial outpourings of jubilation over the victory at Midland Heights, things had slowly settled into their old routine. This was a war, and everyone knew it. So as they had begun their invasion of Vardania things had returned to how they had been. There were battles to be fought most days. And though they were winning them comfortably, still soldiers were falling and dying. More were being injured.

  Then there were the endless chores of life in an army. The endless marching. The digging of pits, The cleaning of weapons, the drilling and the loading and unloading of supplies. The truth was that most of war was drudgery. And when there were months and maybe years of it ahead for most of them, it tended to drain the once high spirits.

  Still, it was better to be marching in a winning army than locked away in a false temple waiting to die as part of a losing one. Nyma couldn't imagine what the morale must be like in the armies of the false temple, as they waited to be killed. They surely knew they had no hope. Especially when there had recently been word from the scouts that the Circle wizards in the realm had abandoned them and were returning to Lion's Crest. The silence here was surely far better than whatever noise was being made there.

  Nyma could have wished for a little noise though as she sat around the camp fire with her sister and their own Circle wizard. She could have wished for anything that would have distracted the others from her report. But there was no such luck. The men were in a quiet mood and their camp fires were all some distance from the three of them. And it wouldn't really have mattered anyway. Dina heard every syllable she spoke. The wizard was sharp. And she was unimpressed.

  “It's been a month and you still can't persuade the boy to accept a guard detail. What have you been doing with your time? He needs protection!”

  Nyma coloured a little and stared rigidly into the fire and wished the wizard had asked her any other question than that. And apparently that was all she had to do to tell the wizard exactly what she'd been doing.

  “Oh by the gods girl!” Dina looked as though she was about to yell at her. “You're supposed to be a custodian! Duty above all! The duty to protect! And instead you're letting the boy you're supposed to be guarding bed you?”

  “He's not a boy!” Except of course that he was to the wizard. Everyone was Nyma knew. “And he has accepted some things. He wears his armour more often. He keeps his weapons at hand. And he is very capable with that sword of his.”

  More than capable actually. She'd had him do some training in the fort with the other recruits and quickly realised he had true skill. And the blade was a devastating weapon in his hands. It could cut through trees.

  “Besides wizard, as he says his true protection lies in not being known for what he did. And no one knows he crafted the bow.”

  “By the gods girl! Is he at least skilled in the bedchamber? Because I can think of little else that could make you say something so foolish! Some know, some guess, and in time more will wonder the same. Many more. They will come for him. And when they do I suppose that instead of being there with a weapon in your hands and guarding his back you will be sleeping in his arms. Keeping his bed warm!”

  “Dina!”

  Erislee interrupted the wizard before she could launch into a tirade. She did that sometimes. Still, even as Nyma was happy for her sister's help she dreaded what was coming. The questions and of course the reminder that she would have to send her mother a letter to tell her about Harl. It would be expected. Dryads had no stricture on entanglements outside of marriage – they did not have the human nobility's strange ideas and all their foolish rules. But for a dryad everything was family. And for as long as she and Harl were lovers than Harl was family.

  But Erislee surprised her then as instead of telling her that she told her of her worries.

  “You know that Harl is a very damaged man. He walks with Lyssa. He hides it as best he can, but the rage is still there.”

  “That's –.” Nyma was going to deny it, but suddenly she couldn't. Not when she knew her sister was right. The rage lived deep within Harl, and too often it came close to the surface. “I know.”

  And she did know. The anger was there in him. He hid it, but he couldn't hide his rage entirely. And though he was with her, especially in the bed, a part of him was not. A part of him was always with his dead family, and with the anger in his soul.

  “But he is happier.” Nyma had to defend him, at least a little. And he was happier, with her at least. Or maybe he just enjoyed their time between the covers. For men she understood, the two things were often the same. Not that she was complaining either. He was passionate and kind, and more than that a determined man when it came to beddin
g her. He was successful too. Each time she went to visit with him, determined to make him see reason she found herself in his arms and in his bed before she'd even got the words out. He had some power over her she thought. And the truth was that as much as she pretended to be annoyed by it, she wasn't. It was nice to be so desired.

  “Good. But happier is not happy. And being happy is not the same as being free from a blighted soul. And with the sort of pain he has suffered, the losses he has endured, I fear it will be a long time before he can truly find happiness again. If ever.”

  “Children!” Dina had obviously had enough of their chatter, and as always she wasn't afraid of showing it. No one else in the entire army would dare refer to Erislee as a child. But Dina would, and she wouldn't even think twice about it.

  “The boy's happiness is not our concern. His survival and freedom is. The knowledge will become known sooner or later. That is inevitable. And when it is others will want to use him. I don't care if he's happy, or if he thinks he can remain hidden. And his ability to swing that sword of his will not be enough on its own. He needs to be protected. From his own foolishness as well as everything else! And the last thing he needs is for the one given the task of protecting him instead to be warming his bed!”

  “Dina!” Erislee stepped in a second time, and once more the wizard fell silent. Then she turned her attention to Nyma.

  “Are you happy?”

  “Yes.” Nyma didn't even have to think about her answer. Harl was annoying and difficult and more than a little stubborn. He scared her some days with what he'd done. When she thought about what the consequences of that would be. But the truth was that he made her happy. Happy as she hadn't been in a long time.

  Too happy perhaps. She should be taking more care with her dates, making sure that she couldn't end up with child. But each time she wanted to say no she said yes. She should be spending more time on her other duties, but each time she thought of them and planned to leave to carry them out, she lingered. So many times she had stayed the night instead of riding out. Too many times. And she was even teasing him. Letting him think that there was a chance she was seeing others when she would never do so. But he was simply so adorable when he was jealous.

  “Then I'm happy for you.” Erislee reached across and hugged her. “And maybe he's right. He did overcome an entire caravan with just a sword. He is a true warrior.”

  “Huh!” Dina clearly didn't agree, but even she wouldn't dare rebuke the High Priestess. Calling her a child was as far as she went.

  “In any case there is another matter to consider. There is something wrong with the wizards.”

  “Pardon?” Nyma didn't know what the wizard was talking about, but it still sent chills running down her back.

  “We've had word from Inel Ison where a dozen or so are being held for interrogation. They've started to change. To relearn their proper ways. Some have started weeping. Mourning for those they've lost and expressing shame and guilt for those they've harmed. Claiming that they don't know why they took the demon king's mark in the first place. They have become quite irrational.”

  “It may be a trick. A ruse to gain them mercy. It may be simply the effect of the time spent apart from any contact with the demon king's thralls. It could be a spell. It may be anything!”

  “But it may also be something important. Something to do with the binding. And none of these wizards were party to the binding. We have no idea of what the consequences of such a powerful magic might be on those who may not have been party to the binding but are still sensitive to magic. Especially when that binding has been damaged. But my worry is that those who were in Lion's Crest when the binding was made may all be about to suffer some emotional malaise in the coming months. Both those who sided with the Circle and those who fought against them.”

  “I have asked that those wizards among us from Lion's Crest be watched – though there are of course only a very few. And while you're spending you nights warming Harl's bed you should do the same. Warn him. It may not matter. Nothing may happen. He has been five years away from Lion's Crest and was never part of the binding. But he should be aware of what's happening.”

  “Of course.” Nyma nodded, determined to do exactly as Dina said. She would ride through the nights if need be to make sure Harl got word as quickly as possible. Though truthfully, she had no idea what to do if Harl did start suffering some sort of wound to his spirit. Find a priest perhaps? He would never accept the advice of one of course.

  But then another thought struck her. Dina had also been in Lion's Crest five years before – or just a few leagues outside it at least. If she was worried for Harl was she worried for herself as well?

  Should she ask? Nyma wondered about that for a moment. Then she realised the woman was already acerbic to an unreasonable degree. That could be due to grief or guilt. It could be due to frustration. Or it could just be her way. There was no way of knowing. But how would anyone know if it was? And would anyone notice if it got suddenly worse? She suspected not.

  Best, she decided, to sit quietly and not say anything to make the wizard any more upset with her. Especially when between the angry wizard and her overly concerned little sister it was already looking like being a long night.

  Chapter Thirty Eight

  The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into a month and then more, and as the time passed, Harl grew happy once again in his work. He was happy in his home as well. It was good to have a lover again. More than good. It was a gift from Aphrodite herself. And after such a long time without! He had almost forgotten what that was like. But then for the longest time he had not thought about such things. His thoughts had been focussed entirely on survival and bitterness. And of course his hatred of the temple. But having Nyma come to him time and again was something new. It was something joyous. It was something he'd almost forgotten existed.

  Nyma was enjoying their time together as well. Though she never stayed for more than a night, for that night she would revel with him as if making up for all the other nights they'd missed out on. She more than made up for them.

  It bothered him that she left, though he knew she had other duties to carry out. But sometimes he worried that she might be seeing other men. She said not and mostly he believed her. But sometimes the thought still lived in his heart. Still, he did not own her. They did not have a bond of marriage. They had not even spoken of such a thing. And she was a soldier with her own life to lead. It was not his place to demand fidelity from her. He simply had to accept that she came to him and be grateful for it. And it was so wonderful to have a woman to hold, especially during the cold nights which were gathering upon them.

  But she'd been away too long this time. Nearly a month in fact as she'd had to ride to Inel Ison with words from her sister for the Great Assembly. And it was terrible how cold his bed had become without her. Soon though it would be warm again. Any day now in fact. And when she returned he would make sure she didn't plan leaving it any time soon. Especially when it was so cold out.

  Fall was advancing and winter was on its way. Soon the first snowfalls would begin and the trees and the ground would turn white. He was looking forward to that. Not just because he liked the cleanliness of the season, but because winter was a time when people stopped travelling. Whether man or beast, there came a point when everyone and everything stopped.

  For him as a wizard fleeing from his enemies that had been a good time for him while he'd been in the mountains. It had been a time when he had felt safer. He had never been completely safe of course, but at least there had been much less to fear for a few months. And this winter would be safer still. It was the first in five long years when the Rainbow Mountains were free from the chimera.

  By the time that spring and then summer finally returned to the land he suspected Vardania would also be free. The word was that the war was going well. He still heard news from the soldiers every few days when they came to deliver him his ore and pick up his wares, and the ne
ws was good. Scores more towns had fallen to their army. And the cities of Vardania surely knew they were coming and the enemy no doubt trembled.

  As for the promised dangers, none of them had appeared so far. But then as far as he could be certain, no one apart from Erislee, Dina and Nyma of course, knew what he had done. And of course Marni, but she was determined never to speak of it – and he suspected she tried never to think of it as well. Officially the High Priestess' bow was said to be a gift from Artemis herself. And perhaps it was. According to the bards who had made up endless songs about it, the bow had simply appeared as the answer to a prayer while she meditated upon the top of Midland Heights. It had been brought to her by one of the huntress' diving messengers; a griffin.

  It was a fine story. It brought courage to her army and hope to the people of the five kingdoms. It also hopefully brought fear to their enemies. He himself quite enjoyed humming some of the little ditties from time to time as he worked. But more important than any of that if Dina was right, was the fact that no one would be looking for an arcane smith who might have fashioned such a weapon if it was a gift from the Goddess.