“Relax, my lord,” she said. “I am going to reveal my memories to you. Watch and listen.”
In a dreamlike state Lord Falk closed his eyes, while Karn waited in silence.
A short while later, Shaala removed her hands from Lord Falk’s face and the Aracean commander opened his eyes, exhaling a long breath.
“We have been betrayed, my friend, as you say,” Lord Falk said. “We’ve given our lives for Marshal Artaeis willingly, to aid him in his war. And he has slaughtered us while we served him. Just today, his Angdar and that dragon killed dozens of my men.”
He hung his head in grief and Karn placed a hand on his shoulder, although he knew it was a largely futile gesture. After a few moments, Lord Falk sat up and his gaze was proud once more.
“Well then,” he said, “it would appear there is an important task to be done.”
“It would seem so,” Karn agreed.
Then Lord Falk looked him in the eye. “Incidentally, there were four Shavla posted in this city. Today, they were all found dead. Did you kill them?”
“I did,” Karn replied.
Lord Falk nodded. “Well done.”
XXII. The Turning of the Tide
Lorial wandered about, watching the various goings–on. Keld and Kaolin were deep in conversation, a lot of it nostalgic from what she had picked up, and so she went for a short walk to look at the mobile bridge that was under construction. When finished, the Valahir army could wheel it anywhere they needed, crossing the Avahast at their own places of choosing.
She saw one of the men standing by it, who had been at turns assisting in the work and inspecting it. He appeared to be only a handful of years older than her.
“It looks good,” she told him, nodding to the bridge.
The man smiled. “It will when it’s finished.” Then his eyes widened a little in recognition. “Ah. You’re one of Captain Vascakyle’s companions, aren’t you?”
Lorial returned the smile. “The only one from the group now. The others have headed back south. Captain Vascakyle is well–known here, it would seem.”
“He is amongst some of the men.”
“And he and the princess seem well acquainted,” Lorial remarked, glancing over her shoulder at the pair of them.
“Princess Kaolin and Captain Vascakyle are old friends,” the man said. “I think they knew one another as children, before her little brother was born.”
Lorial laughed. “Her little brother? You mean Prince Kaodas.”
The man frowned slightly for a moment and then shrugged. “Yes, I suppose he is the prince. We tend not to bother with those titles unless we’re sure they’re going to be King or Queen someday.”
Lorial nodded. “Ah. Kaolin will be queen because she’s the firstborn child.”
“That seems the most likely outcome,” the man replied. Then he shook his head and extended a hand. “Anyway, where are my manners? I’m Derin Illochir.”
“Lorial Sunderlass. Very nice to meet you.”
“And you,” Derin said.
Then Lorial frowned. “Wait a moment. Didn’t I see you mending weapons the other day?”
“You did.”
“So you’re a blacksmith and a carpenter?”
“When the occasion demands it,” Derin told her. “I’m also a mason when required and even a soldier. Are you and Captain Vascakyle staying with us until we drive the Angdar out of Valahir completely?”
“That’s the plan,” Lorial said.
“And what about after that?”
“After that?” Lorial asked. “I guess we’ll see.”
In Kalishar, Morgiana entered Sól’s quarters.
“You spoke to Shaala?” Sól asked.
“They’ve made contact with an Aracean commander by the name of Lord Falk,” Morgiana replied.
Sól smiled. “I know him. He’s a good man.”
“He’s begun rallying support to march on Cirreone and hold Marshal Artaeis accountable for his crimes,” Morgiana said. “He’s already rallied all of Olcenberg.”
Sól frowned. “That’s fast work. Although it may err on the side of recklessness. If Artaeis gets word of what he’s doing, and there’s no doubt he will, then he’ll bring Angdar down into Aracea and Cirreone itself to stop him.”
“Yes, I’m worried about that too,” Morgiana agreed. “The Araceans and their friends think the Angdar no longer use Kharadaan, that they’re all based around Wyvern’s Peak. But they do use it. And so Marshal Artaeis could get his reinforcements quite quickly. I think we should prepare the fleet, set sail for Cirreone and be there when Lord Falk strikes. We know the Angdar have scattered north and east.”
Sól nodded. “Actually, we might be able to reach Cirreone before Lord Falk arrives.”
Two days later, smoke billowed from the last of the Angdar compounds south of the west branch of the Avahast and the mobile bridge was being laid over the river south of the fork.
Kaodas, technically the prince of Valahir, cleaned his sword and then spoke to Kaolin, Keld and Lorial, who were waiting close by. “It seems fortune is smiling on Valahir, my friends. The Angdar are abandoning the lands of the Eirahir. However, we can still hasten their departure.”
A small falcon alighted on the railing above the deck of the Osprey, which was now en route for Cirreone. Morgiana removed the message from its leg and read it as the bird flew away.
Sól and Tal came over as she rolled it up. “Queen Heptapshu has just received a message from King Ashaki in Khalahi. Prince Nabahar and his men found Aracean soldiers who were attempting to cross Khalahi’s borders.” Her voice was grim. “Although they were in no condition to fight. Hundreds had died from prolonged exposure to the heat. Thirst and starvation had killed scores of them as well, and a number of men had been savaged by leopards and other wild animals down there. The survivors were a pitiful lot.”
Sól frowned. “Where are they now?”
“King Ashaki has taken them in and he has many nurses working to bring them back to health. There are a little over two hundred survivors down there being looked after.”
“Tell Shaala,” Sól said. “Lord Falk will want to hear about this too.”
“I had a feeling you might say that,” Morgiana said.
“Is he still in Illisden?”
Morgiana shook her head. “No, he’s moved into Carcasia.”
“He moves fast,” Sól remarked.
Marshal Artaeis appeared neither young nor old but he was a charismatic man who conveyed strength, and who inspired loyalty in all his people. Now, however, that loyalty was fast disappearing. A net was closing in.
Inside the central citadel of the great trading port of Cirreone, he spoke to a Shavla captain.
“The two mages are still with him,” the captain said.
Marshal Artaeis waved his hand in a gesture of impatience. “I know where those two mages are. What of the reaction amongst the people in Carcasia?”
“They’re falling in with him as the people in Illisden did,” the Shavla replied. “He’s recruiting the men at every stop he makes and others are coming in from the surrounding regions to swell his ranks. And he’s still marching towards us. If you wish it, I can gather all the Shavla and attempt to stop him.”
“You can gather all the Shavla and assist in our defences here,” Marshal Artaeis replied. “You’re no match for that type of force.”
“We will let him reach the city?”
“We will prepare for it, at any rate,” Marshal Artaeis said. “And I have informed Kharadaan that all the Angdar there are to come here at once. This is where we’ll make our stand.”
“What about the people here in the city? What will they do when the Angdar pour in?”
“What can they do?” Marshal Artaeis countered. “If they don’t like it, they can leave. And if they choose to resist the Angdar, then good luck to them.”
The Shavla captain nodded and then hesitated. “I wonder, Marshal Artaeis, whether we might send Dom
inicon to deal with Lord Falk’s army and stop them from ever reaching the city.”
“I’ve already spoken with Dominicon,” Marshal Artaeis replied. “See to your orders.”
The contingent of Valahir soldiers, which since about a fortnight earlier included Keld and Lorial, set camp on the rocky terrain.
They were now on the massif of rock and mountains that surrounded the summit known as Wyvern’s Peak. An odd name these days as wyverns hadn’t lived there for centuries or more. Wyverns after all needed things to eat and among the barren grey rocks and the piles of moraine, there was very little to be had.
After days of fighting, the people of Valahir had driven the Angdar back from the east branch of the Avahast as far south as the fork and from their northernmost garrisons a hundred miles to the east of Arvenreign.
As the soldiers made preparations for the evening meal, Lorial gazed into the distance at the distinctive peak with the long gradual slope on one side and the sheer cliff on the other. She knew a road wound its way up the approachable side, although she couldn’t see it. However, she could make out the fortress on the precipice.
“So that’s it,” she said to Keld. “Wyvern’s Peak.”
Keld nodded. “That’s it. A lot of history in that place. The orb of Askenroth. The defeat of Gammoroth when he hid there.” He smiled. “And Askenroth’s eventual defeat as well.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Come on. Kaolin and Kaodas have invited us to dine with them. And maybe you can bring your friend Derin. I notice that you two are fairly close.”
Lorial smiled. “One could say the same thing about you and Kaolin.”
“Well,” Keld said, “when my brother and I came north on errands to Valahir, she was always kind to us. We go back a long way.”
The next morning, the ever swelling ranks of Lord Falk’s army woke to a fine day and resumed their march towards Cirreone.
Karn and Shaala remained among them, riding close behind Lord Falk so they could keep him informed of any more news from Morgiana and the fleet.
After an hour on the move, mounted scouts appeared in the distance, galloping towards them.
Lord Falk rode out to meet them, with Karn and Shaala beside him.
“What news, gentlemen?” Lord Falk asked his men. There was an anxious tone in his voice; he could tell from their faces that whatever it was, it was not good.
“Angdar are pouring across the plains of Araseu,” one of the scouts reported. “Thousands of them. We think they must have come down from Kharadaan through Gorman’s Passage.”
“I didn’t know the Angdar still occupied Kharadaan,” Lord Falk said. “I thought they were all based around Wyvern’s Peak now.” He sighed. “Not that it matters. We’ll meet them at Cirreone all the same. Besides, with Ilara and Maharei at our side, we will prevail.”
The scout forced a smile. “One can hope.”
“Where’s the head of the column now?” Lord Falk asked.
“Well,” the scout started, “when we saw them, they were –”
“Get down!” Karn shouted, leaping forward and dragging both Shaala and Lord Falk off their steeds and not a moment too soon. Even on the ground, they felt the scorching heat. For the poor horses, it was too late.
Behind them, fifty yards or more, he heard the screams of other men in the group who had seen the danger too late. And as he looked up, he saw that Lord Falk’s scouts had not escaped in time either.
“Dominicon!” Lord Falk exclaimed. He tried to push himself up from the ground but Karn pushed him right back, surprising the Aracean commander with his strength.
“Stay down,” Karn hissed. He looked back and saw Dominicon taking a wide turn, coming in for a second attack. Around him, startled men were running in all directions in a blind panic. Karn could hardly blame them.
Sitting in a crouching position, he reached over to his bag, hanging loose from the remains of his poor steed. He shuffled through the gear inside and pulled out a short bow and one of the arrows he had taken from Shaala’s home in Bellasaire.
“Marshal Artaeis must have been waiting for this moment,” Lord Falk said through gritted teeth. “Waiting until we were all out in the open.”
Karn ignored him and tracked Dominicon’s turn, attempting to predict where he would strike next. He strung Shaala’s arrow to his bow and made his way to a better position.
Dominicon threw a large group of men into the air with a sweep of his tail, while Karn raced over dead bodies and scattered debris to get where he needed to be.
Then Dominicon saw Karn and bellowed with rage as he recognized the little brat who had caused him so much trouble at Bellasaire. The enormous beast changed his arc in mid–flight, coming around to finish him off for good.
However, in doing so he gave Karn his opportunity, a split–second where he was exactly where Karn wanted him to be. Karn steadied his aim, released his bowstring and the arrow shot straight through Dominicon’s eyelid. Dead in the air, the beast tumbled down, crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop amidst a great cloud of dust.
Karn smiled. “I got you that time, you bastard.”
Around him, the men who had been fleeing in all directions were slowly returning in a daze, unable to believe what had just happened.
“Karn!” Shaala embraced him.
Then releasing each other from their arms, Karn and Shaala made their way over to Lord Falk.
“How did you...?” he began. He trailed off, unable to speak.
“I came prepared,” Karn told him. “See to your men, Lord Falk. I suggest you set up a burial detail and give everyone an hour or two to rest before we go on.”
As the Aracean commander headed over to the rest of the group, Karn turned to Shaala. “And while he’s doing that, why don’t you tell Morgiana the news?”
That evening, a contingent of Valahir soldiers ascended upper slopes of Wyvern’s Peak. Gazing up, they saw the winding road that led to the fortress on the precipice. But there were no lights to be seen through any of the windows.
“We’ll have to take a group to have a look,” Kaodas said.
“I’ll go with you,” Keld told him.
“Me too,” Lorial added.
Keld turned around to say something and then thought the better of it. “Fair enough,” he said instead.
The ride up the final section of the Wyvern’s Peak was not difficult but it was slower than Lorial would have guessed. At the bottom of the winding road, it appeared she could almost reach out and touch the fortress but the distance that she had judged to be a few hundred yards but been about four or five times that.
However, they reached the fortress soon enough. It was not an inviting looking place by any definition but seeing it up close, seeing nothing but a large tower made of bricks and mortar like any other, robbed it of some of the power that mystery had until then imbued it with. But the real surprise was that the gates were wide open and the fortress was silent. Carefully, they went inside, leaving a small group to keep watch outside.
Guarding each other’s backs, they explored the main entrance hall and the rooms around it. Then they climbed the stairs to the top of the tower. Along the way, they found evidence of the Angdar who had occupied it in weapons, food stores and even half eaten meals in places but they found no actual living Angdar in the entire fortress.
“They’ve cleared out,” Kaodas said when they were outside again. “All of them.”
“I wonder where they went,” Lorial said.
“Kalishar, perhaps,” Keld suggested. “But wherever they went, I think it’s time we found out what’s been happening down south.”
“The main contingent has landed safely west of the city,” Tal reported to his fellow mages. “They’re holding back until we give the word and I’ve left Amoraak in charge.”
Morgiana stirred. “I think we should wait. I’ve spoken to Shaala and Lord Falk’s army is a day behind at most.”
Sól nodded. “I agree. Besides, acco
rding to my people, all the Angdar that Marshal Artaeis summoned are already there anyway. Giving him another day before we make our move won’t give him any additional advantage.”
Tal frowned. “But what advantage does waiting a day give us? I know Lord Falk marshalling this people’s army of his is impressive and all that but we may not actually need them now.”
Sól shook her head. “That’s not the point. The point is that Lord Falk’s army should be there to see this through with us. When we strike against Marshal Artaeis and his Angdar, it will be a turning point in history. For the first time since the collapse of the order of the mages, the lands of the Greater Realms will stand together. So we absolutely should wait for Lord Falk’s army, even if they simply cover our flanks.”
Lord Falk’s army arrived not long after the Ilara and Maharei contingent landed on the Aracean coast, although they arrived a day later than Morgiana predicted they would.
Sól and Tal landed on the shore and went inland to meet the new arrivals, although before speaking to Lord Falk, Sól took a moment to express her gratitude to Karn and Shaala.
She grinned. “I had hoped that your journey would be a successful one but I never imagined you’d accomplish all this.”
Karn shrugged. “We did very little. We just brought our proof of Marshal Artaeis’ betrayal. Lord Falk did the rest. The people everywhere really admire him. For most of them, his word was all they needed to sway them.”
Sól then turned to Lord Falk himself and shook his hand. “A man who inspires that loyalty in people must be a great man indeed,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Lord Falk. I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
“And I you,” Lord Falk replied, gracing her with a smile.
Then the Aracean commander glanced over Sól’s shoulders at a group of figures behind her. “Do my eyes deceive me?” he said. “Those companions of yours have the size and build of the Angdar but if they are Angdar, then I’m a gazelle.”
Sól smiled. “No. My companions are not Angdar. They are the Ulak.”
“The Ulak?” Lord Falk repeated. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of them.”
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