“I don’t like this,” Helian said as they drew closer, Vala signalled the warriors to stop and gestured for Helian to accompany her as she dismounted and moved closer. The people around the pillar eyed them suspiciously. An old woman, her coarse grey hair just visible under the hood of her black robe, walked towards them and bowed. Unsure of the situation, they bowed in return.
“Do you come from the Empress?” the old woman croaked.
“The Empress?” Vala asked.
The old woman nodded, “We have only had dealings with her faithful servants, but she sent word that soon warrior friends would come to protect us from evil.”
“We are the warriors,” Helian said whilst hiding the Eriban emblem on his uniform.
“Praise the Empress!” The old woman shouted embracing Vala who looked uncomfortable.
“Please good woman,” Helian said, “we are new to these parts, how many of these pillars are there?”
“Many, many more,” she replied, “the faithful servants came and erected them in the Empress’ name, they told us to pray for protection and forgiveness. If we were worthy, evil would be rid from this world and we would be saved. Of course there were many who didn’t believe, they thought the Empress was evil, but they were overcome with illness and only those that repented were saved.”
“Your faith is strong,” Helian said trying to mimic the priests he had known when he was young. “The Empress is pleased with your devotion,” the old woman looked up at him, tears in her eyes and clutched his hand. He bowed again and signalled to Vala to follow him. They walked towards the pillar, making sure they were out of earshot.
“Bælana?” Helian asked.
“It must be,” Vala watched as the old woman relayed their interaction to others. “Quick thinking on your part,” she continued, “it looks like she believed us.”
“Should we go to Myrtan? Or see how far these pillars go?”
Vala weighed up the options; the old woman would most likely be willing to tell them everything they needed to know if they stayed with her, but that also meant there was a risk that they would be uncovered as frauds.
“We’re not far from Myrtan, let’s spend the night, the warriors are tired and we might be able to learn more about what’s happened. Tomorrow we’ll head towards Olai and see where the pillars stop.” Helian moved back towards the old woman to ask if she would allow them to accompany her back to the town and she embraced him tightly in response.
Vala glanced at the pillar and moved closer to examine the writing on the surface. It had been carefully carved into the stone, and though she couldn’t read it, the lines and shapes seemed familiar to her. She made her way to where the warriors waited patiently and explained their conversation with the old woman and their decision to visit to Myrtan. Then she walked back to the pillar with a piece of parchment and some charcoal to take a rubbing of the inscription, making a mental note to show it to Sara when she returned home.
They rode slowly towards the quiet town; Helian had helped the old woman onto his horse and he was walking beside her as she preached to him.
“When did the Empress’ faithful servants first arrive?” Helian asked looking up at the woman, she cocked her head to one side.
“It must have been almost two seasons ago,” she replied nodding thoughtfully, “many of the young became sick soon after and we struggled with the planting until they got better.”
“Were they non-believers?” Vala asked.
“Oh yes,” the woman replied enthusiastically, “they said we were wrong, they said we should only serve the Gods because they looked after us, but they didn’t cure the sickness when it fell, only the Empress could cure that.” Vala bit back the urge to say it was the ‘Empress’ who had caused the sickness in the first place.
“When we were at the Holy Pillar,” Helian said reclaiming the woman’s attention, “you said the Empress had told you to pray for the evil to be removed from the land, what evil?” The old woman looked at him suspiciously, as if he should already know the answer.
“Where we are from there is no evil,” Vala said quickly, “the Empress has protected us since the beginning.”
The old woman nodded, “You are very lucky,” she said looking wistful, “there is much evil here, though perhaps you would not believe it just by looking. But we are all ruled by evil tyrants who are keeping our birthright from us.”
Helian and Vala exchanged a puzzled look, “Birthright?” they asked in unison.
“You know of the Empress’ power,” it was not a question, “her faithful servants explained that we could have power like that, we should have power like that. The, ‘rulers’ of these lands are hoarding the power for themselves, denying what is rightfully ours! But with the Empress’ help we can claim it back.” Helian nodded slowly, realisation dawning. “And she sent you to us,” the woman continued beaming at them, “it is a sign that she wants us to strike down the tyrant!”
Vala smiled through a grimace and wished Helian could read her mind, she wanted to tell him to abandon their plan and leave. She wanted to warn King Asmera of the unrest in his kingdom. She glanced at Helian and realised he didn’t need to read her thoughts, he could read her face, and she could read his.
Chapter 17
Walking towards them, weapons glinting in the semi-darkness were a group of grinning mingual warriors. The others had never seen the mingual before; Tom and Kiræ had described them enough times but nothing had prepared them for how they would feel when they actually faced them.
“What do we do?” Tana asked, her voice shaking as she fumbled for the sword Sir Nyme had insisted they carry; she was now grateful he had.
“We’re on horses,” Gary said, “could we outrun them?”
Tom shook his head, “They’re pretty fast,” he explained, “I think they would probably pull us off as we went past.”
“I guess we’re about to see how well Sir Nyme’s training has paid off,” Keolan said unsheathing his sword. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead and he wiped it away nervously.
“This day was bound to come eventually,” Hazime said readying himself, “do we charge? Or do we wait for them to reach us?”
Kiræ looked at Tom, “We could-”
He nodded before she finished, “We’ll charge,” Tom said, “our aim is to get away, not stay and fight, but give us a minute.” The group looked questioningly as the twins clasped hands and held their free ones towards the mingual. They breathed deeply in unison and shoved their hands violently towards their enemy. The mingual were hurled backwards.
“Now!” Tom yelled letting go of his sister, they charged towards the mingual who had landed with a sickening thud on the hard ground. Slightly confused at what had just happened, their friends rallied themselves and followed, swords at the ready.
Half of the mingual had scrambled to their feet when the group reached them and were foaming at the mouth in fury. If they had thought being on horseback would be an advantage, they were mistaken. Tom was instantly thrown from his horse as one of the mingual smacked it in the face and he heard his sister call his name.
As his horse bolted, the mingual swaggered towards him, wielding a large two handed sword. Tom cursed and grabbed for his own weapon, feeling slightly dazed. He blocked as a heavy blow came from the creature and winced under the pressure, he tried unsuccessfully to push back. The mingual bore down on him, lowering him to his knees, Tom breathed deeply, found air and pushed.
The mingual was thrown up and back, Tom stumbled forwards and stabbed through the mingual’s chest before he had a chance to right himself, he burst into flame with a scream. Tom turned, saw Aurora get pulled from her horse and ran towards her, only just preventing her from being impaled by throwing himself in the way and blocking with his shield, using air for help. He turned briefly to check she was unharmed and thought he saw her eyes flash amber but dismissed it instantly as the mingual sent another blow. Aurora got to her feet and grabbed her sword while To
m threw her his shield.
“What about you?” she shouted.
“I’ll be fine,” he called as the mingual dislocated his right shoulder causing him to drop his sword. He yelled as pain seared through his shoulder and was thrown to the ground. They really like playing with us, he thought as he grabbed for his sword with his left hand and turned in time to see Aurora throw his shield at the mingual’s head.
Tom’s eyes were wide at the sheer force behind her throw as the shield embedded itself in the mingual’s face. She hacked at her enemy’s arm as he screamed and thick black blood shot from the wound. Tom watched in awe as Aurora jumped far higher than she should have been able to, and sliced cleanly through his neck. She helped Tom to his feet and they managed to quickly and painfully relocate his shoulder.
Breathing heavily, he thanked her, and saw clearly now that her eyes were no longer blue, but were instead bright amber. Before he could comment she pulled him roughly to the side and pointed at another mingual warrior attacking Gary. They ran to his aid, Aurora sprinting much faster than Tom and he marvelled briefly at her skill and speed before jolting back to the reality of battle.
Kiræ, still mounted, kicked a mingual warrior in the chest but he barely moved, she needed to get better at using air to help her. Keolan arrived at her side and he slammed his pommel into the mingual’s back, distracting him so Kiræ could clumsily slice his throat; he gurgled and burst into flames. She nodded her thanks and rode towards two mingual who were bearing down on a still mounted Hazime. He was far more proficient with a sword than she was, in fact he was one of the best in his year, but she doubted even he could take on two mingual at once, despite him trying.
Hazime aimed a blow at one of the mingual’s necks and when that was blocked he kicked sharply, impacting with a pale skinned face. Kiræ arrived in time to counter an attack destined for Hazime’s back and used air to force her enemy back. She heard a yell and saw Hazime fall from his horse, he cursed loudly while scrambling to his feet but was forced back down again as the mingual’s hilt made contact with the side of his head. Kiræ pushed her hand towards the mingual standing over him; he was thrown back and thudded against one of the small trees, cracking the trunk. Kiræ jumped off her horse and helped Hazime to his feet.
“Take Senna,” she said handing him the reins, “you need her more than me right now.” Kiræ looked around, but in the chaos she couldn’t see how many mingual remained, she was sweating, breathing heavily and felt exhausted, no doubt partly from using magic.
Hazime had already ridden towards Tana when Kiræ noticed Tino struggling against one of their enemy, while another advanced quickly. She ran towards him and tried to push them away but had inadvertently released air. She continued running, drawing air back to her, then screamed as pain seared through her right leg. She stumbled and fell to the ground. A small knife protruded from her calf, still attached to the hand of a mingual warrior.
She could see he was wounded, thick black blood oozed from a large opening in his side but he still seemed determined to try and kill her. She slammed her shield into his face and his hand slipped from the knife. She began to limp towards Tino, trying to ignore the pain in her leg and the knife sticking out of it.
Tino had managed to kill the first mingual and was now fending off the second but a third had just locked eyes on him. Kiræ gritted her teeth and yanked the dagger from her leg, screaming and cursing loudly as she did so. She hurriedly wrapped a strip of cloth round the wound, gripped the bloody dagger in her hand and ran towards Tino.
She leapt onto the third mingual’s back and stabbed him in the back of the neck; he screamed and burst into flames. She closed her eyes and fell roughly to the ground. She heard Tom’s voice as he helped her to her feet and she opened her eyes feeling dizzy. Suddenly realising where she was, Kiræ spun quickly just as a bloodied Tino crumpled to the ground.
“No!”
There was a flash of bright, white light and the remaining mingual were thrown backwards as a shimmering veil radiated from Kiræ and surrounded the twins and their friends. The mingual were enraged, they charged towards the small group only to be thrown backwards once again. After several more unsuccessful attempts they retreated, snarling and frothing angrily. Kiræ stared wide eyed at the shimmering veil around them, then slowly it fell away and her energy drained instantly. She could feel Tom’s grip tighten as she succumbed to the fatigue, and collapsed as black fog spread across her vision.
Vala and Helian had been riding hastily for almost two weeks towards Olai with their warriors. The pillars had disappeared as they moved further south but Helian didn’t trust that Bælana’s touch hadn’t reached further. When they finally reached the capital’s gates they were exhausted, covered in dust and dirt, and Vala was certain the strange odour she had noticed several days ago, was in fact them. The guards at the gate raised their eyebrows at the shoddy appearance of the warriors but one stern look from Helian and they opened the large doors without opening their mouths. Vala urged her warriors to get cleaned up while she and Helian went to talk to the king.
“Please forgive my appearance, King Asmera,” Vala said bowing low; she was stood with Helian in a large round chamber. There was an equally large, round wooden table in the centre where King Asmera and his advisors sat. His advisors looked at Vala and Helian with disdain. Vala knew if she were visiting any other monarch her appearance wouldn’t have been acceptable, but thankfully King Asmera was not the usual monarch. She knew from past experience that he liked to spend time with his citizens and tried to visit the outlying towns at least twice a year. Two warriors looking slightly, well very, dishevelled would not offend him.
“Don’t worry Vala,” he replied gesturing to two empty chairs and Vala thought he was stifling a smile, “I’m glad you could join us.”
“Sire, we have bad news,” Helian said as they sat across from the king, several of the advisors wrinkled their noses.
“The pillars,” King Asmera said and Helian looked shocked.
“Yes sire, how did you know?”
“One of the merchants who returned several days ago informed the guards of strange pillars with unreadable writing on them. The guards foolishly dismissed him, believing him to be drunk, but several days later another merchant arrived saying the same thing.”
“It could still be nonsense sire,” a balding, portly man said, in a slow overly articulated manner.
“It’s not,” Vala said shooting the man a look, “Helian and I have seen them, and I took this from one of them.” She pulled out the parchment with the rubbing and spread it out on the table. Several of the advisors leant a little closer to look at the strange writing covering the surface.
“What does it say?” asked a dark haired, well-spoken man.
Vala shook her head, “I don’t know, I can’t read it, do you think one of your scholars might be able to?” she asked the king.
“Perhaps,” he said eying the script, “I’ll have them sent for.” He nodded to a guard stationed by the door who bowed low, before leaving. “So,” he said turning back to Vala and Helian, “what else did you see while you journeyed here?”
They looked at one another, Helian spoke, “Sire, there are some…problems with Myrtan.”
King Asmera looked puzzled, “What kind of problems? Are the people okay?” there was sincere concern in his voice and Vala wondered why all monarchs couldn’t be like him.
“The people are fine sire, at least, they are for now,” Helian answered, “the problem is that the people no longer see you as their leader.”
The king looked as if someone had slapped him in the face, “Do you mean to say, that she has-”
“Yes sire, they have…converted to Bælana’s ‘teachings’.”
“And what’s more,” Vala said, “the mingual have been visiting them, and talking to them.”
“Talking?” one of the advisors asked, “I thought only Ziqua could talk.”
“Apparently not.” Helian
said gravely, “sire, what would you have us do?” King Asmera sat silent and troubled, while his advisors and the two warriors looked at him.
“Sire if I may?” the balding man spoke again, “perhaps we should cut trade links with Myrtan, I’m sure a few weeks without certain, ‘luxuries’ will have them flocking back to you.”
Vala scoffed and the balding man eyed her with disgust, “You do realise that Bælana will just use that to her advantage, she’ll see it as a victory and it will just prove to the people that their king really has abandoned them.”
“I think you forget your place,” the balding man snapped.
“No, Vala’s right,” King Asmera said, “we cannot be seen to abandon these people, it will only support the lies they’ve been told, instead we’ll send further aid.” Most of his advisors started to disagree but a young woman with cropped blonde hair nodded in agreement.
“Sending aid should prove to them that you’ve not abandoned them, what king would send supplies to people he no longer cared about?”
“Exactly. Helian, once you have rested would you send some warriors with supplies to Myrtan?” Helian nodded just as the door to the chamber opened and several scholars walked in.
“Ah, please, make yourselves comfortable,” King Asmera said gesturing to the few remaining empty chairs in the room. “I’ve asked you here to see if any of you can read the script on this parchment,” he gestured to the symbols on the paper and the scholars crowded round in wonder, ignoring the seats.
There were five scholars in the room of varying ages, though most of them looked older than the king and all were men. Most wore glasses and some even had small magnifying lenses that they held over the writing to see it more clearly.
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