The Archon's Apprentice

by Neil Breault

  “What are you doing here?” said Voletain.

  “I heard a commotion, came to investigate, saw the dead guards and the dungeon wide open. Came down to see who was trying to free whom and came across this.” Omoni indicated the body in the cell. Mikol looked closely at the body and thought it was the Sibilovan Emissary. He could only guess it was the Emissary as the body lay scattered about the cell in several pieces but there was no one else in any other cell. The torso had exploded, and Mikol guessed the beast had somehow come out of the body.

  “Omoni, arrange for this body and the rest of the dead to be transported to the sanctuary. This is strong blood magic and needs to be studied.”

  “Yes, Your Grace,” said Omoni. “What other bodies?”

  “Several more guards in the hallways, along with Ussan and Juna.”

  “What? What killed them?”

  “You did not think the guards at the top of the stairs just killed themselves, did you? There is also a body of a Death Hellion that I assume came from ... this.” Voletian gestured to with an open hand to the parts around the cell.

  “If there are any more Wardens in the field I want them back in Valefort by tomorrow. I do not care how you do it. As of right now, I do not want anyone to enter or leave Valefort. The enemy has struck and we need to prepare for war.”

  Chapter 6

  Turos

  Turos sat at Omoni’s large desk. He could hardly see the top, as it was cluttered with maps, scrolls, and various books scattered about. He flipped through the books at random but did not find anything that caught his interest. The scrolls were mostly inventories and requisitions. The largest scroll turned out to be a map, and he unrolled it fully. It was a map of Ternia and surrounding areas, including Casparan. Turos was impressed by the level of detail but frowned when it did not respond as a runic map would.

  Turos did not look up as the door opened. Omoni came into his study. Turos smiled as Omoni made exaggerated sighs picking up the various items that Turos had knocked on the ground off of the desk.

  “What do you think you are doing here?” asked Omoni.

  “I’m bored. There is nothing fun or exciting going on around here since the city has been closed. So I thought I would see what you were doing.”

  “Boring, huh? You don’t think a Death Hellion wandering the halls of Valefort was exciting enough?”

  “That would have been exciting. But I didn’t see it, so how would I know?” asked Turos. “Why haven’t I seen these maps? They seem to be quite detailed with army movements. Though it looks like the wrong army.”

  “Yes, yes, yes. They were created from reports from the Wardens. They are several weeks old now. I am sure the army has moved on.” Omoni walked over, motioned for Turos to back up, and started rolling up the map.

  “What are you really doing here?” asked Omoni.

  “I wanted to talk.”

  “There is much going on, Turos. I can’t be dealing with you right now. What do you really want?”

  “You used to be fun.” Turos shrugged and rolled his eyes. Omoni shooed Turos as he placed items back on the desk. Turos grabbed his cane and let Omoni sit down. Turos slowly paced in front of the desk, his cane tapping softly with every other step.

  “I think it is my time to be the prince.”

  “You are a prince.”

  “You know what I mean. The prince heir.”

  “What about Arceri?”

  “We both know he’s dead.”

  “Your father doesn’t think so.”

  “He wouldn’t have chosen Perim to be his heir if he didn’t think Arceri was dead.”

  “Well, what about Perim then? You just said he was heir.”

  “He will never make it back to Valefort,” said Turos.

  “But he is still alive.”

  “Irrelevant. He is no longer a concern. That leaves me in clear succession to the throne.”

  “I suppose it does,” said Omoni. “What about Mikol?”

  Turos stopped and turned his head to look at Omoni directly.

  “He will be Archon. As long as he does what I say.”

  “The king will never appoint you as heir as long as he believes either Arceri or Perim will come back. His feelings toward you are not a secret.”

  Turos swung his cane swiftly onto the desk, ripping a scroll Omoni held between his hands. Omoni looked up at Turos with disdain. He tossed the pieces of the destroyed scroll away and sat back in his chair.

  “What have I ever done to him for him to hate me? All I have ever wanted was for him to show me some respect and treat me like one of his sons.”

  “Maybe he wants you to do something important and is waiting for you to show you deserve his respect.”

  “Bullshit! Arceri never proved himself to father before becoming the prince heir.”

  Turos swung his cane again, this time shattering a vase on a bookshelf.

  “I know you are angry, but can you please stop breaking my things?”

  Turos looked down at the pieces of the vase and the torn scroll. He grunted but put the cane in the crook of his arm.

  “I am going to get what is my right.”

  “Even if Raifaran did appoint you as heir, Voletain is still at Sanctuary and won’t be back for several weeks at a guess. There is a lot of residual magic to sort through.”

  “That is the perfect time,” said Turos. “Voletain does not need to be here to give me my magic. Any Exemplar can grant the attunement runes.”

  “And how do you propose to get Raifaran to agree to this?”

  Turos reached into his vest and withdrew a small flask. “With this.”

  “You don’t need to get him drunk, he’s always drunk.”

  “No,” said Turos. “This is not alcohol. It is a special tonic that will make him do what I want him to do.”

  “Hmm. Interesting.” Omoni steepled his fingers. “Where did you get it?”

  “You have your secrets and I have mine.”

  “That is fair. We’ve always been able to see things clearly. It will be nice change to have someone like that on the throne. I guess we shall see if this works. When do you want to try it?”

  “Now.”

  ***

  The sun had reached its zenith by the time they reached Raifaran’s chambers. The king’s guards allowed Turos and Omoni in the room only after Omoni told them they had urgent business to discuss with Raifaran. Even then the guards made them wait until they had been announced.

  The inside of the room remained dark as the shades were closed. Omoni shut the door in the face of the guard and closed off a major source of light. They waited a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dark and the briefest of light coming from around the large windows.

  Raifaran sat in his bed, glass in hand. Turos could tell the king was awake as the glass still had wine in it. Turos tapped his cane and motioned for the king’s servant. He came over and Turos sent him to fetch more wine. Raifaran stared at the departing servant and opened his mouth to speak. Turos grabbed the decanter and poured his father a full glass. Raifaran looked at the glass and raised an eyebrow at his son.

  “What do you want, Turos?” said Raifaran.

  “Can a son not visit with his father?”

  “You haven’t before. What do you want? And be quick about it.”

  “Very well,” said Turos. “I think it is time you chose your real heir.”

  “I have chosen my heir. We just received word from Perim the other day. You dare to come in here and demand to be heir?”

  “I have not demanded anything, father. We don’t know who really sent that letter. It may have been Perim. But why would he only send the one letter? Why has there not been more? Shouldn’t we have heard something else by now? It has been a week since we received the letter. I don’t think it is a coincidence we received another messenger.”

  “Why would someone want us to believe Perim is alive if they know he is dead? You make no sense, boy.”

&
nbsp; “What if they want us to think he is alive so we don’t prepare ourselves? If Perim and the army are still well then they are keeping the enemy at bay. But if the army is scattered and Perim is dead, would we not want to fortify Valefort? Either way, Perim is not here and your heir should be by your side.”

  “Is that what you are doing? Being by my side? If you’re going to be here you might as well fetch a new flagon of wine; you poured the last glass.”

  Turos forced a half smile on his face as he backed away with the flagon. Omoni had stayed just inside the door to watch the spectacle.

  “It didn’t look like that went well,” said Omoni.

  “No, but I did not expect it to. That was his last chance to do the right thing. Now I shall get what I deserve.”

  Turos exited the room, turned, and saw the servant returning with a full flagon of wine. His father did not deserve this kind of loyalty. What had he ever done? All he did was drink all day. Turos forcefully grabbed the flagon and pushed the servant away. He paused a moment as the guards both looked at him but otherwise did not interfere.

  After entering the room again, he closed the door and stood next to Omoni. With his back to the king, Turos drew forth the flask and poured its contents into the flagon.

  “Where’s my wine, boy?”

  “Coming,” said Turos with a sigh.

  He walked back to the bed and poured the king a glass. Raifaran did not waste time with this first glass and drank it all in one swallow. Turos waited patiently while he poured Raifaran glass after glass of the wine. Another ingredient in the tonic would not allow the king to sleep. The natural effect of having so much wine conflicted with the tonic and made the king seem more drunk than usual. After the king drank the last of the wine he motioned for more. Instead, Turos opened the shades. Afternoon light forced its way in to every nook and cranny and gave life to the room again. Omoni walked over to Turos and the king.

  “Shall we see if this worked?” said Omoni.

  “Yes,” said Turos. He turned to the king, who was looking around the room dazedly, not quite focusing on anything and blinking his eyes a lot. “Father, I want you to get out of bed and dress yourself.”

  Raifaran took a moment to focus on Turos. He nodded slowly and sat up. With the floor beneath his feet he was able to stand but wobbled slightly. Turos looked up with contempt. It took Raifaran a long time to dress himself, and it became evident he usually had the help of servants. Turos could not believe a man would let himself become like this. The longer he looked at this helpless old man the less hate he felt. All that was left was pity.

  “Father, you will renounce Perim and declare that I am to be your Prince Heir.”

  Raifaran nodded his head.

  “You need to say it.”

  “I renounce Perim and declare you to be my heir.”

  “Thank you, father. Now sit in that chair over there.” Turos pointed to a chair near the bed. “My part has been done, now we need an Exemplar.”

  “I’ll get one of the guards to fetch one.” Omoni opened the doors and stepped outside to speak with the guards. He came back moments later, nodding to Turos.

  “I believe there is only one Exemplar in the city right now,” Omoni said. “It will be a moment. Make sure he can answer questions. They need to be short and to the point. If the Exemplar suspects anything he won’t give you the rune.”

  Turos walked over to the king, grabbed his chin, and forced the king to look at him.

  “You will be asked if I am your heir. You will be asked if you want me to be given the attunement rune as an heir. You will answer yes to those questions.”

  Turos felt the king nodding his head and released his father. Omoni stood next to the king while Turos paced around the room. It did not take as long as Turos expected before they heard a knock. Omoni opened the door and let in an Exemplar, followed by two Wardens. The guards followed and stood on either side of the door.

  “Sire, I am Exemplar Caylth. You summoned me?” He bowed to the king and awaited an answer. After a moment he looked up hesitantly. The king sat in the chair, staring at nothing. Caylth looked over at Turos and Omoni with an accusatory glance and then walked over to the king. Caylth waved his hand in front of the king’s face and received a response. The king looked at Caylth and smiled.

  “Sire, have you summoned me?”

  “He wishes to declare another heir.”

  “Turos, I will ask you to refrain from answering for the king.”

  Raifaran kept smiling at Caylth.

  “Have you summoned me for a reason, sire?”

  Raifaran looked at those standing around him.

  Caylth began, “Turos, what have—“

  “Yes,” said Raifaran, interrupting Caylth. “Turos.”

  “Sire, have you summoned me to give Turos something?”

  “Yes, give Turos the attunement.”

  “Sire, you know I cannot grant that to a prince who is not the heir.”

  “Yes, Turos is heir, not Perim.”

  Caylth looked at Raifaran for awhile. The king still had a smile on his face and continued to look at Caylth. Quickly glancing back at Turos and Omoni, Caylth frowned, drew runes in the air, and touched the king’s forehead and shoulder. Turos watched the exchange with trepidation. He did not recognize the specific runes that were used and feared he would be discovered.

  “What are you waiting for, Exemplar?” said Turos. “The king declared me to be his heir.”

  “I don’t believe the king has really declared you to be his heir.”

  Turos gritted his teeth but felt Omoni’s hand on his shoulder restraining him.

  “Although I cannot find any runes of submission that Omoni used.”

  “I have done no such thing,” said Omoni. “Be wary of who you are accusing, Exemplar.”

  “I know well who I am accusing, Preceptor. And lest you forget, I answer to Voletain, not you.”

  “And Voletain answers to the king. A king who has declared Turos to be his heir. Any heir of Ioyan shall be given the attunement rune.”

  Caylth stared at Omoni for an extended time. Finally, with a grunt, Caylth walked over to Turos and drew several runes in the air. He placed his hand on Turos’s chest, causing him to exhale sharply from the impact and the transformation of runes. Turos felt invigorated by the change and traced several runes that were tattooed on his arms. They glowed slightly at his touch. He made the motions for his rune weapon and a glowing curved sword appeared in his hand. After a few practice swings, he noticed that the Paragons standing behind Caylth also had their rune weapons ready. He released his grip and the sword disappeared. The Paragons did the same a moment later.

  “Thank you, Exemplar. Thank you, Father,” said Turos. He bowed and quickly left the room.

  ***

  Turos inhaled deeply the crisp, clean, night air. He had spent the rest of the day testing out his runic tattoos and now strolled along the battlements on the west side of Valefort. With no clouds in the sky the full moon shone brightly on the ground below. He could just make out the outline of the western mountains against the horizon, where Sanctuary was located. He passed several guards, who gave him a wide berth. This would have angered him normally, but his spirits were especially high. He heard footsteps behind him and decided to have fun with whoever was following him. He turned quickly to face his stalker. His runic armor encased him, and he leveled his sword while he set himself ablaze with a magical fire. Turos smiled as he saw Omoni flinch. He recovered just as fast and cast several runes that stopped Turos in his place.

  “You’re no fun,” said Turos.

  “I’m surprised to see you as happy as you are right now.”

  “Why shouldn’t I be happy? I have finally been declared as heir and I have all the power I’ve dreamed about.”

  “Not quite.”

  Turos stopped dancing around.

  “What?”

  “Caylth did not grant you all the powers of an heir. I am not certain
yet, but I believe he granted you all of the powers of a Warden. Roll up your sleeve.”

  Turos looked at Omoni for a moment, not believing what he heard, but complied with the request. Omoni grabbed Turos’s arm and studied the new rune that had appeared there.

  “Yes, this rune is missing several key components to be a proper royal attunement rune. While still providing a vast array of magical ability, it does not allow for everything.” Omoni tapped Turos on the chest. “The life rune is the major rune of the Royal Runes. There should only ever be four active in the world: the King, the Queen, the Archon, and the Prince heir.”

  Turos ripped open his shirt and looked over the runes on his chest. Several of the runes were glowing softly, but his Life rune remained inert. He growled and pushed pass Omoni.

  “Turos, where are you going?”

  “This does not concern you.” Turos sprinted down the hallways knowing Omoni would not be able to catch up to him. He had to wave his cane at servants to move out of his way, striking those that did not move fast enough. The Runic Hall resided at the far end of the castle. When he arrived he looked around and did not see anyone in the Runic Courtyard. The first few rooms were for high-ranking members of the order, followed by rooms for the Preceptors. The last two were for the Archon and the Exemplars.

  Turos walked up to the door and knocked on it with his cane. When he did not hear anything he rapped on the door again and looked around again to make sure he was still alone. Still not hearing anything, Turos raised his cane again but heard the door unlatch. He lowered his cane and took a step back. Caylth opened the door, blinking at the sudden light from the sconces. He sighed heavily when he saw Turos.

  “What do you want?”

  With Turos’s new runic powers, Caylth did not have time to react as a dagger was plunged into his stomach. Turos withdrew the dagger slowly as Caylth took a faltering step back. His hands went to the wound in his stomach. He looked at Turos incredulously before looking down at the blood coming out of his torso between his fingers.

  “You are a traitorous cur,” said Turos. “The king told you to give me powers as an heir.” Turos pulled open his shirt and pointed at his chest. “What does this look like to you?!”