The defensive slab turned offensive rush hit nothing but the arena wall, and my own distractions were diverting no one. The enemy was already fifteen feet in the air and charging up another inferno. However, before he released it, a twisting jet of water caught his attention. A glance back showed that it was the one armed Braden who had cast the spell. The enemy had no choice but to send his wave of fire to counter the airborne river. An explosion of steam was the consequence. Not wanting to give our enemy a chance to use the mist to his advantage, I threw a couple of explosive stones and triggered it in the center of the cloud.
The airburst cleared away the boiling fog to reveal that the enemy had landed in the first row of stands and was observing us nonchalantly, his weapon resting on his shoulder. He shook his head and said, “You all should be embarrassed of yourselves! Five scary warriors against one man with only one working arm. Ugh, I’ll never hear the end of it, but it’s better than hearing nothing at all!” At the same time the end of his halberd’s shaft hit the ground, a thick cloud of black smoke burst forth.
Everyone retreated from the rapidly expanding cloud, and I used another explosion to clear my area. Once the hungry smoke cleared away enough to see shapes more than a few feet away, no one could find our white haired adversary anywhere.
I began running toward the last spot I saw him, but sensing my intent, Aranath said, “He’s too strong for you alone. Even unleashing your corruption might not guarantee a victory.”
I took his counsel seriously and slowed down back to a halt. As the knight hastened back to Garnet and the insensible man she was tending to, Braden ambled up to me.
“Glad you came when you did. I was foolish for underestimating him. Just five years ago I could get away with that type of mistake. Not anymore it seems.”
“He appeared to be more than just a mercenary.”
“I agree, but I can’t say yet what he is, except he’s one tough fucker.”
As I stared at Garnet, I asked, “Can you say what he was after?”
“I’ll let the girl decide what she tells you.”
With that goal in mind, we walked up to the others.
“How’s the kid?” Braden asked the knight.
“He’s been hit with a powerful sleeping spell. A good healer should be able to dispel it without too much trouble.” Looking at me with bushy eyebrows and a chiseled, stubbled chin, the knight asked, “And who’s this?”
“His name is Mercer,” said Garnet. “Mercer, this is Sir Abelus Stone.”
Sir Stone ignored the introduction and picked up the youth as gently as someone in heavy armor could. “Come, milady. We need to find a healer.”
To Braden, Garnet said, “Your aid and the sacrifice of your men will not be forgotten, guild master.”
“Unfortunately, more sacrifice may be required before the day is out. Let’s find your sister and move to a more secure location.”
She nodded and headed for a hallway leading to the rooms below the seats. We all followed her as she called out for her sister with the name “Elisa,” enlightening me what her own real name was. She found her little sister huddled up in a weapon’s storage room. Odet gave her blade to Isabella and picked up her sister. The little princess was shaken up, but she put on a brave face, which lit up a little when she saw me.
“Mercer! Did you save us? Where’s everyone else?”
“They’re fine. Clarissa should appear soon, in fact.”
As we moved back outside, Odet told her sister to bury her face in her shoulder so she wouldn’t get an eyeful of the desiccated dead, though nothing could prevent her from smelling the cooked flesh.
Stepping out of the arena had us meeting an incoming Clarissa. I told her in my succinct way what happened, including letting her in on who Garnet really was. She obviously wanted to comment on it, but the time for such things wasn’t that moment. Not long after, some city guards that had seen the fiery turmoil came over to assist us. Braden requested for one to send out a message to all the city guard, asking to make certain that the other valkrean were safe.
“I see,” said Aranath. “So the golden haired boy is a valkrean.” For my benefit, he continued with, “Most simply think them as powerful summoners, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. The most relevant element to know is that some summoned entities align themselves with certain bloodlines, not just individuals. There isn’t much difference between these and regular pacts, except when they involve eidolons. Most eidolons keep to themselves in their respective realm, acting as aloof sovereigns in the territories they inhabit, but several have allied themselves with human clans, just as the elder dragons once did. Valkrean families have helped shaped your history ever since the pacts first formed, and there isn’t an era when nations and cults aren’t looking to harness their power in some manner. I suspect the man with the halberd belongs to one of these mad sects.”
I absorbed this information as the remaining guards helped escort us to some barracks where a few healers were treating both injured guards and civilians. As I thought over what Aranath told me, I realized that these valkrean would be observed closely by their families and benefactors at all times. It was also likely that they weren’t all that many in one place at any one time, except perhaps when some youths gathered for a festival.
I suddenly had a worry that the tournament group I left had a valkrean in it. What if someone as strong as the halberd wielder attacked the group the siblings were in? I didn’t think so. If a valkrean was within the group, they would have been watched over by more than just a handful of guild members. Still, there was a chance they simply ran into one. I tried not thinking about it, not when I couldn’t do anything about it at the moment.
Braden was tended to in his own room while the rest of us followed the knight, who carried the valkrean into another room with multiple beds.
“Is Owen going to be okay?” Elisa asked her sister.
“Yes,” she answered, sitting on a nearby bed. “It’s only a sleeping spell.” Turning to me, she said, “Thank you for your help, Mercer.”
“All I did was show up.”
“And it was enough to force him to retreat… I suppose you’ve figured out who I am.”
“I already suspected a noblewoman, though that you’re second in line to a powerful kingdom was beyond my guesses.”
“I don’t know how powerful we are if a lowly mercenary group can infiltrate so easily and create this much disorder.”
“There is more at work here than a mercenary group. They are mere pawns in this, I suspect.”
“He’s right,” said Isabella. “That man was no simple sell sword.”
“He could be from a Voreen special unit,” speculated Stone.
“That would imply an incoming army,” I said, “One that most likely does not exist, even if your army is now forced to prepare for one. How many valkrean are in the city?”
“Four I’m certain of,” replied Odet. “Owen here belongs to an Alslana noble family, who are close friends with my own. Two others are from Niatrios and the other is from Oclor. All were here to test themselves in the tournament. There are undoubtedly others, but as their interest is merely to watch over their kin, they have not made their presence known. Owen’s mother would have been here if she weren’t sick.”
“Then it all makes sense. Someone knew the valkrean would be here, they hire the mercenary group to cause some chaos, and they snatch up what valkrean they can and leave east before anyone knows what hit them.”
“And stir further animosity between Voreen and us,” said Isabella. “Don’t the Blue Swords have their headquarters there?”
“Aye,” said Stone, “but even if this theory is correct, you cannot stay here, your highness. We need to get you home as soon as we organize an escape.”
“We can’t leave without Owen,” said Elisa.
The woman healer that had been examining the valkrean said, “The spell is deep, your highness. We can revive him, but it will take at lea
st the rest of the day to dispel it safely.”
“Stone,” began Odet. “Find out when leaving here will become possible.” The knight seemed reluctant to leave, so she said, “I’ll be fine. I’m sure Mercer here will gladly lay down his life for us maidens.”
“Well, maybe not gladly, but you can be assured, knight, that I’ll unhesitantly risk another burnt cloak for your princesses.”
He did not look amused by my light banter, but he bowed and left the room. Odet, taking Elisa with her, fell backwards to lie on the bed.
“You don’t think Daddy will be mad at us?” Elisa asked her older sibling.
“No, not mad, but expect him to get even more wary about where we go and who we meet.”
“Um, dumb question, uh, your highness,” said Clarissa. “Do we still call you ‘Garnet’ and ‘Pearl’?”
“The façade is over, Clarissa, so ‘Odet’ and ‘Elisa’ are fine now. Oh, and friends never call us ‘your highness’ or anything like that, even if Sir Stone thinks they should. Please, I hope you don’t treat us any different than you were because of our status.”
“N-no, not at all. I just know there’s a bunch of etiquette and stuff when it comes to nobles.”
“But not with friends.”
“This guy isn’t one of your suitors, is he?” I asked.
“No, but he is an old friend, though I suppose we might also be distant cousins if I remember my family tree correctly. However, I am currently being courted by someone back home, in case you were thinking of trying to make yourself royalty.”
“No, I’m waiting for Elisa to get a few years older for that.”
“We’d already be together if you had danced with me,” Elisa pointed out.
“Until then,” said Odet, “What are you going to do?”
“Have you spoken with the guild master about me?”
“I told you I wasn’t going to pry.”
“But he told you something.”
“Only that you might be going somewhere after the festival was over, but now that it has ended prematurely…”
“I actually need to talk to Braden before I make my next move. There’s information he can still give me.”
Braden himself entered the room a few minutes later, his stump bandaged and in a sling.
“How do you feel?” Odet asked him.
“It will take getting used to, but I know of a few comrades who have had much worse chopped off. I’m actually glad this didn’t happen when I was younger. Where is Sir Stone?”
“Preparing our leave back to the capital.”
“When do you leave?”
“As soon as Owen is revived, which the healer says will take at least a day. It might have to be faster if a Voreen army attacks, but the city is well defended enough to give us time to move out.”
“I’ll have to stay if an enemy fleet arrives, but if no sign of that army appears by the time you move out, I would like to gather what men I have and become part of your escort, if you’ll allow it.”
“Of course.”
“If you wish, Mercer, you may join me so we can get to your business when we arrive at the capital.”
I nodded and was about to open my mouth, but I was interrupted by a deep, distant chirping coming from somewhere outside.
“What was that?” Clarissa asked.
My response, along with Braden’s, was to head out of the room. Clarissa followed, and Odet sternly order Isabella to keep an eye on Elisa as she stepped out with us. The deep chirping was heard again on reaching the open air. Its origin was eastward and skyward. It was maybe a mile away, putting it over the edge of the forest line, but everyone in the street could plainly see a brilliantly blue bird soaring a thousand feet in the sky. Every flap of its huge wings glistened sunlight and its four long tails left a trail of bluish sparks in their wake. The size relative to distance meant it had to have been twice the size of the jengsing hawk I saw with the nomads.
“A marcuno,” said Aranath. “She’s an eidolon.”
Wanting a better vantage point, I chose the easiest looking building to climb and did just that. With a jump on top of the stones protruding out a window, I pulled myself up onto the one story roof.
Just as I gained my bearings, the magnificent bird suddenly pulled in her wings and dove to the ground. She opened her orange beak and fired off what initially looked like blue fire, but when it impacted the ground, great blocks of ice pushed away fifty foot trees. Shattering part of the newly created ice was a discharge of inverse lightning that almost hit the bird as she swooped over the leafy canopies. The marcuno made a seeping turn back at the spot she had attacked, but she must have found nothing more to assault with her ice spell. She chirped and began climbing the sky until she was smaller than an ordinary bluebird.
When my trance was over, I noted that Odet and Clarissa were standing alongside me.
“What a beautiful creature,” said Clarissa. “And what power.”
“If it takes summoning an eidolon to beat this opponent,” I began, “you should hope there aren’t too many of them involved.”
I saw Odet tilt her head from the corner of my right eye. My right ear then heard her say, “How did you know that was an eidolon?”
“An old comrade described her to me once.”
“Your old comrade is very knowledgeable, then. Valkrean families don’t like to attract attention to themselves when possible. There aren’t even many illustrations or books on the matter.”
“There aren’t illustrations or books on many things, but the information is out there somewhere. Sometimes even in the heart of a mountain.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Clarissa and I stayed in the barracks with Odet for a few hours longer. When word came in the early evening hours that all the violence had been quelled, the vampire and I decided to head back to our inn and wait for the siblings or news of them. Darkness fell before they finally showed themselves. As usual, I didn’t have to add much to Clarissa’s explanation of our doings. The siblings reacted as one would expect when told of Garnet’s true identity. They also accepted Clarissa’s offer to join us in attending the royalty’s escort, who we planned to meet up with before dawn.
As for the siblings’ side of things, they had stuck with the same group of prospective guild members after we left them, helping to clear the streets of mercenaries and anyone else taking advantage of the disorder. The guild captain had taken down their names for consideration, but their optimism increased when they learned that we would be traveling with a former guild master who would likely recommend them further.
After getting a couple of hours rest, we headed for the barracks. With two princesses to protect, quite a few soldiers guarded the area, but knowing we were due, Isabella was out waiting for us and we slipped through the assembly of shiny armor, bulky shields, and pointy things without trouble.
After Ethan asked for the latest news, Isabella replied, “It doesn’t appear as though a Voreen invasion is imminent. The mercenaries seem to have been hired to mask the true goal of their employers.”
“The valkrean,” said Catherine. “Are they all safe?”
“No. Two who had entered the tournament are missing and one of their protectors was found dead not too long ago. We have hundreds of soldiers and guards scouring the city and woods, but no luck finding the missing so far.”
“Your enemy is likely receiving help from within your government,” I said. “They didn’t infiltrate without help and they definitely won’t be able to escape without it.”
“This has been troubling Odet’s mind as well… Elisa was still asleep when I left, so try being quiet when you enter.”
Opening the door showed Elisa slumbering next to an awake Owen, who was sitting up on his bed and talking quietly to Odet. Catherine tried acting as though nothing had changed between her and the royalty, but Ethan couldn’t help being somewhat reverential.
In a naturally soft voice, the first thing Owen said after introduc
tions was, “Thank you all for your help in this. I only wish I could have joined in the fight.”
“That would have simply made you an easier target,” I said.
“You sound like Odet.”
“He sounds like a rational fighter,” said the princess, who was garbed in a marvelously pristine white cloak of silk.
“And you sound like my mother.”
“With the risk of sounding like someone else,” said Catherine, “is there any word as to who our enemy is?”
“That will take time,” answered Isabella, “but there’s little chance some people strong enough to take on an eidolon can group up without anyone noticing.”
“Do you know what your parents will do in response to this?” Clarissa asked Odet.
“They’ll get our best people to look for the missing valkrean and watch the borders. I’m sure security on all valkrean will be strengthened as well. Not to mention all the di-”
Stone came in and, in a boisterous tone that woke Elisa, said, “We’re ready to move out, princess. Ahh! Forgive me for not being more delicate, little madam.”
We went outside to see a large horse-drawn coach waiting for the nobles. Surrounding it was a small army of soldiers on horseback. Several horses were brought up by Braden for us to ride, and since I did not yet know how to ride competently, I became a passenger on Clarissa’s mount. Half an hour before sunlight cracked above the horizon, the escort began a ten day ride to Ecrin, Alslana’s capital city and so called brightest jewel in all of Iazali.
The trip was a largely nonstop affair for the carriage, only stopping to trade for new horses or simply when Odet wanted it to stop. The rest of us couldn’t switch for fresh horses as often, so our stops came a little more frequently, though we never fell that far behind Odet. It was during one of these brief rest periods that Braden learned that Catherine and Ethan were the grandchildren of Madam Rachel, telling them that this alone was worth a recommendation to the guild.
“We like to use the tournament for more precise evaluation,” he continued, “but there are of course other methods the guild uses to choose new members. I can easily get you two into one of these plans and lower the requirements for you to pass.”
The Lone Dragon Knight Page 18