The sisters spoke up, taking turns in their eagerness to show how well their pupil had performed. They told him, from start to finish, how Oganna had followed them, and later rescued them from death in the arena. “If she had not engaged Loos and his cohorts in combat, we would not have been able to recover from the first attack.” After they had finished their story, they stood silent, waiting for him to reply.
When Ilfedo did not speak up, Vectra did. She rested her right hand on Oganna’s shoulders and spoke to him. “It is as the Warrioresses have told you—your daughter achieved a great victory against discouraging odds. She has earned a place of legend among my people, and I was honored to join with your great nation as allies.”
“And you think that I will go along with this alliance?” He tilted his head back and laughed harshly. “I would die before joining forces with a low, dirty race of desert dwellers!” In the stunned silence that followed, Ilfedo spun around and reentered the fort. He shot out a final insult as he departed. “The sooner you all leave us, the better it will be for you.”
Oganna turned to the megatrath and tried not to cry. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what has happened. Believe me, please believe me. That is not like him, at all.” She gritted her teeth and glared at the fort. “Do not worry, Vectra. The Warrioresses will find out what is bothering father. He always listens to them.”
“Humph! It did not seem to me that he was in the mood to listen to anyone.” The creature thundered away after a stiff bow, muttering something under her breath about how dumb Ilfedo was compared to his daughter. “A fighter without honor.”
With a sigh, Oganna shrugged and shook her head at Caritha. “What did I do? I truly did not think he would respond like that.”
“Leave him to me and my sisters.” The woman grasped Oganna’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. “Just wander the fort and find out if anything seems amiss. I feel that something strange is going on here, almost evil, and it may have something to do with your father. We will speak to him, and if Ombre is willing, he will go with us.”
“There is something strange about Ilfedo.” Ombre joined the conversation with a furious eye. He fingered his sword’s pommel. “He hasn’t been right ever since we started making nightly ambushes on the desert vipers. On the last attack he encountered an Art’en.” Oganna’s jaw dropped. He nodded his head and raised an eyebrow. “This one targeted your father on our last raid. I’m not sure why, but he has been exceedingly moody and indifferent ever since.”
Ombre crooked his arm, and Caritha took it, letting him lead her into the fort. Laura and Evela chattered back and forth as they followed. Rose’el went too, her arms crossed again. Levena paid them no heed, though she trailed along. She had her sword unsheathed and was picking at the rust with a cloth. Oganna watched them enter the main building, then started to wander the fort. If her aunts found out nothing, she would.
There was no answer to Caritha’s knock at Ilfedo’s office door. She could feel the tension hanging in the air as Ombre and her sisters hovered behind her. They all felt as she did—uneasy, confused, and concerned. Ombre’s recounting of Ilfedo’s behavior in front of the council earlier that day greatly troubled her.
She shoved aside the questions that were pummeling her mind and braced herself as she opened the door. Ilfedo was sitting at his desk, his head buried in his hands. He was digging his knuckles into his skull. If she hadn’t known better, Caritha might have attributed this to a severe headache. However, when he looked up, she put her hand over her mouth and gasped, for Ilfedo’s face twisted in a sneer, and his eyes gazed without seeing.
“My brother, what has happened to you?” She skirted his desk, bent over him, and grasped his right arm. Laura, Evela, Rose’el, and Levena filed into the room and stood in a line facing him. Ombre stepped past them and leaned against the wall, looking out the window.
Rose’el leaned over the desk and stared into Ilfedo’s eyes. After a few moments she frowned at him and raised a fist in his face. “Just give the word, Caritha, and I’ll gladly slap him.”
Caritha rested her hands on the desk. “That won’t be necessary. Stand back. Let’s talk civil.”
“You mean that you will try.” Laura twisted her mouth uncomfortably.
Caritha ignored her. “Ilfedo, what is wrong? Let us help you. You know we can.”
For an instant his face softened and his gaze relaxed. “Help—help. Pull me from this. Pull me out.” His eyes hardened again, and he stood up. “Get out! Leave me be.”
“Ilfedo,” she said, “you can’t mean it.”
“Oh yes, I do. Leave now, or I will call for the guards.” He glowered at Ombre. “You too, get out of my sight before I thrust you through.”
Caritha frowned deeply. “What’s wrong with you?”
His body twitched, and his eyes looked normal again, then they reverted to their former condition, and he clenched his fists. “Do not make me hurt you.”
She rose to go, but he grabbed her and slapped her across the face. As tears spilled, Ombre rushed over. His fist smashed with brutal strength into Ilfedo’s head. He sprawled over the desk. Caritha wept as she stared at her unconscious brother-in-law.
Wiping her tears with a handkerchief, Ombre kissed her stinging cheek, reached his arm around her waist, and guided her out of the room. Her sisters followed, though Rose’el held on to the desk, as she said, “I’ll teach him.”
“Come on, Rose’el. Can you not see? Ilfedo is not himself.”
The sisters pulled her out of the room. She cursed Ilfedo and growled. “Let me kick him. Just one kick, and I’ll bring him to his senses!”
“Enough, Rose’el.” Laura grabbed her arm. “Let it rest.”
Ombre ran a hand over Caritha’s cheek. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, but shaken.” She hung her head. “What will we do now? He doesn’t even want to speak to us and—”
“He seems evil,” Evela offered.
“Well, does anyone have a suggestion how we can help him?”
A lad ran past them into Ilfedo’s office and emerged a minute later. Ombre pulled him aside and inquired what he’d been doing.
“The Lord Warrior is furious about something.” The lad’s voice trembled. “He is demanding to meet with his counselors right away. I’d better go now and do as he told me. He started to run down the corridor.
“Thank you, my boy.” Ombre turned him about and knelt to face him. “Now, was there anything else?”
In a whisper the messenger told him more. As the lad left, Ombre folded his hands behind his back. “Well, ladies, it seems that our friend has stipulated that we are not invited to attend this forthcoming meeting.”
“Of all the nerve!” Rose’el started marching down the hall.
“Where are you going?” Caritha asked.
“To the council chamber. Where else?”
The council chamber had been constructed on the fort’s ground level. It was rectangular, and a circle of wooden chairs occupied its far end. Animal skins draped the chairs, and a handsome array of swords hung on the walls.
The double doors swung open, and Ilfedo’s commanders trooped in. Each of their eyes popped open upon seeing Caritha with her sisters and Ombre, but they also nodded at them and smiled. Laura sat next to Caritha, but Ombre switched with her and gave Caritha’s hand a comforting squeeze. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Every man here will stand with us. Just do what you feel is necessary. Honer and Ganning will back me up one hundred percent.”
Honer and Ganning sat across from Caritha. She acknowledged them with a nod, hoping to lighten the tense atmosphere. Both of the men smiled back.
Ganning cleared his throat. “It’s good to have you with us again.”
“Yes.” Honer breathed deeply and exhaled slowly. “We’ve missed you all.”
Ilfedo slammed the chamber doors open. He glowered in Ombre and Caritha’s direction, then went to his seat. The sword of the dragon was still girt at his side.
His eyes were darker now, yet hazed. After sitting down he gestured to two men by the door. “Guards, bring in the prisoner.”
All heads turned to the open doors as a cage was borne into the room. Caritha could hear the caged viper hissing and snapping its jaws before she could see it.
“Behold our enemy,” Ilfedo said. “This creature is a low, desert dweller, and it is capable of communicating with us. So far, it has refused to tell us what I want to know. It repeatedly asks for mercy.” He let out a sardonic laugh before continuing. “Lord Ombre and other members of this council have opposed the use of torture to get the information that we need from this creature, and so I have personally accepted responsibility for the task. He strode to the center of the ring of chairs and waved a hand in the guards’ directions. “These two men have performed the task for me—and, so far, I am very pleased with their work.”
He pointed a finger at Ombre. “You, my commander, should have obeyed me. For the time being your command will be handed over to another man.” He looked around the room. “Are any of you—” his body twitched and his face contorted in pain before he could go on. “Are any of you ready to obey me without question? If you are, then I will give to you the rank that Ombre now holds.”
Ilfedo’s counselors gasped in horror at his words. They talked amongst themselves, seeming to debate the truth of Ilfedo’s words and looking at him as if he were a ghost. Ilfedo rushed forward, smote one of his counselors on the face, drew the sword of the dragon, and poised it against the man’s throat. Caritha felt faint as Ombre stood to his feet with his hand on his sword’s pommel. The sword of the dragon, given to Ilfedo by the dragon, did not blaze; the living fire did not come forth, and the light did not shine. If Ilfedo killed that man the sword would, of its own accord, turn around and slay him.
Oganna stepped through the doorway and dropped her hand to her side. “Have I missed something?” She took a step toward her father and slapped him across the face.
His eyes and mouth widened and, again, the assembly gasped. “This is none of your concern, young one.” Ilfedo leaned over her.
“Oh, I think it is. After all, the leadership of the Hemmed Land will one day fall into my lap.”
“Hah!” Ilfedo spat on the floor. “Then I do, here and now, take away your right of succession.”
Suddenly she noticed the cage and the viper. Blood caked the creature’s head, and its lower jaw hung loose. A fire burned in her soul, and she turned to the guards. Her hand tightened around her sword as she spoke. “Who has done this?”
“It refused to talk, and Lord Ilfedo gave us permission to torture it,” they answered.
It would have been better for them if they had remained silent. Oganna drew out her sword and transformed herself into a goddess in silver, wielding a blade that glowed red. She thrust the nearest guard straight through his heart, pulled out her blood-stained blade as he fell to the floor, and struck the floor with her blade’s tip. “Behold, the Avenger!” She burned her gaze into the faces of those around her. “With it I have and I will execute justice upon all. Honored members of this council, are you so blinded by the chain of command that you have lost all sense of moral responsibility? Why did you wait for me to come before putting a stop to this wickedness?”
Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of the remaining guard jabbing the viper with his sword. She slid her blade around and struck at him, but her father drew his sword and parried the blow. “Do not make me hurt you, little child.”
As soon as his blade touched hers it melded to it and, together, the sword of the dragon and the Avenger slew the guard. Oganna reached out with both hands and took back the swords. As she grasped the sword of the dragon, it blazed with brilliant light, and a jab of current touched her mind.
“Oganna, my daughter, I am here.” It was Ilfedo’s voice inside her mind. She felt the presence of another with him, between him and her, blocking her path to bring him back. “Father,” she said, stepping close to him, “I can feel the darkness waging war inside of you. I can see—something wicked—controlling you. Let me help.”
Before he could react, she dropped the swords, reached up, and pressed her hands on either side of his head. Her hands glowed, and she felt the powers of her mother surge against the tide of darkness and attack the evil that had rooted itself in his being. The resistance was strong, too strong. She closed her eyes against despair, and the pain that suddenly assailed her mind. She held her ground. Yet the darkness, though not overcoming her, would not be overcome. She opened her eyes and strained to cry out. “I—can’t do this alone.”
The Warrioresses dashed to her side. Caritha spoke to the members of the council, though Oganna could not hear what she said. Ilfedo’s counselors rose off their seats, bowed their heads, and knelt on the floor with hands folded in prayer.
The Warrioresses laid their hands on Ilfedo and on her, strengthening her powers with their own. Together they melded into a potent force that forced the indwelling presence into a corner of Ilfedo’s subconscious. Then they surrounded it and pressed in until it suffocated and deceased.
Oganna’s exhausted arms fell to her sides, and her legs gave out under her. Beside her, Caritha, Laura, Evela, Levena, and Rose’el followed suit. The last thing she remembered seeing was Ombre as he and other members of the council stumbled to catch them before they hit the floor.
19
RENEWED MAN
Ilfedo was still struggling against the evil trying to overcome him. The dragon remained beside him, as did his deceased wife. But he felt an infusion of holy love beat back the evil one. His chest heaved in rhythm with his labored breathing. He felt disoriented, yet energetic. He flexed his arms and shouted triumph to the sky. Though he could not see them in his vision, he knew that, somewhere in the world where he’d left his body, his wife’s sisters and his own beloved daughter fought to bring him back.
The dragon rested a hand around his shoulders and spoke in rumbling tones. “You have seen through your own eyes the harm that your possessed body has done to your alliance with the megatraths. Vectra is a proud creature and a powerful one. Make it your priority to mend your relationship and treat her with respect.”
“I will.”
“One more thing, Ilfedo. Don’t ever again be caught in battle without your sword, for it alone can prevent this incident from recurring.” The dragon stepped back and moved his hand in a circle over Ilfedo’s head. Blue-white light streamed from his claws and fell in waves to the ground until a bubble of swirling light surrounded Ilfedo.
He blew a kiss to his wife and mouthed, “I will be with you again. I promise.” She and the dragon dissipated, and he found himself standing in the council chamber at Fort North. He stumbled and fell to his hands and knees. To his side lay his sword on the wood floor. He reached out and grasped it, then rose to his feet. The living fire sprouted from his weapon and decked him in the magnificent armor.
His counselors stepped back and then knelt before him. Ombre came forward, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s good to have you back, my friend.”
“It’s good to be back.” Ilfedo embraced the man, then nodded at his unconscious daughter and sisters. “They need rest. See to it that they are cared for.” He turned to leave.
“Ilfedo, where are you going?”
“Do not worry, Ombre. I will be back in due time. First I have to mend a wrong done to the megatraths.”
He sheathed his sword, left the fort, and found the megatraths camped to the south around a stand of widely spaced trees. The creatures stirred and raised their heads as he passed between them. Evening was falling, and the cool air felt moist.
“Explain your errand, sir.” One of the creatures rose to its full height and peered down its nose at him.
“I have come to speak to your leader, Vectra.”
The creature snarled. “She is busy right now, Ilfedo. I suggest you leave before I remember your insult to our noble leader.”
At that mom
ent Ilfedo was ready to apologize, but he decided that the creature would view this as a weakness. After all, had not Oganna won their respect through combat? He growled up at the megatrath and stared boldly into its eyes. “Do you think that I fear you?”
“Yes.”
Ilfedo laughed and drew his sword. The flames sprang forth and covered him, and the megatrath stumbled back. “This weapon bears great power, megatrath. I suggest that you permit me to pass before I am forced to make a scene.”
“Enough!” Vectra lumbered around her loyal follower and gazed upon Ilfedo. “You are not a friend of ours, Ilfedo. The child you had may be pure, but I have seen that you are not.”
“I was not myself.” Ilfedo bowed. “A dark spell had been cast over me, and I could no longer control what my body did.” He took a step forward and raised his sword in both hands. “This weapon is an instrument of the pure and will only respond to those that are worthy. Surely if I were deceiving you this weapon would not now clothe me in light.”
“Humph, for all I know you could be a sorcerer. This sword proves nothing!”
“If you do not believe me.” He extended the sword’s handle to her. “Take it and see if it will discern your heart.”
“What? Is this a trick?” She rumbled deep in her throat and yellow vapors drifted into the air while flames burst from her mouth. “Father of Oganna or not, you will die!” She charged into him, spun around, and hit him broadside with her tail.
He flew through the air and felt the trunk of a tree meet his back. He fell to the ground and gasped for air. The megatrath wanted a fight, so he would have to test himself against her. Very well, he would give her a duel she would not be able to forget. Waving the sword over his head, he blasted the surrounding trees with fire until the other megatraths backed a safe distance away from him.
Offspring (The Sword of the Dragon) Page 29