Morgiana smiled. “It’s good to see you too.” She gazed over the balcony and the single winding wall of the city to the ships coming and going in the harbor. Looking at the moored vessels bobbing in light breeze of the late morning, with a pleasant blue sky framing everything in sight, it was hard to imagine the battle that had taken place here just over twenty years before.
“So have you been well?” she asked, turning away.
“Well enough,” Tal replied, pouring her a glass of water and then another for himself. “I have nothing to tell you other than that things are fine. The city... well, you can see it for yourself. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening in either Carcasia or here in Aracea. Nothing strange has been reported in Hadras or Agamon, and it’s been some time since I last saw Angdar there. Also, Queen Haadeiya tells me that all’s fine with her people too.”
The Queen of the Ulak, who were now mostly living on the plains of Araseu, although some had remained in the southern region of the Entruscian Mountains. Haadeiya was Amoraak’s granddaughter and had been charged with the governing of her people after he died two years earlier. Morgiana felt a little sad thinking about that. It was hard to believe that a man so vigorous in life was no longer with them. Still, Haadeiya was a fine leader for the Ulak. She was not a warrior – the women of the Ulak did not fight – but she commanded the respect of all her people and with her guidance, the Ulak’s new settlement on the plains had thrived as Cirreone had.
Morgiana took a breath before replying. Her news wasn’t quite as simple as Tal’s. “Well, that’s good to know. I was more or less going to tell you the same thing when I set out actually. However, Shaala has just spoken to me. She and Karn think something’s wrong.”
“Something’s wrong how?” Tal asked.
“They don’t know,” Morgiana told him.
“Was it a premonition then, like the ones Karn sometimes had when he was with us?”
“It sounds like it and they both think the threat is one that may affect the entire continent.”
“Hard to believe,” Tal murmured. “But with Karn and Shaala...” He trailed off.
“They’re growing stronger and stronger with the gift,” Morgiana said. “And that extra sense of Karn’s, which Shaala seems to have picked up from him... I suppose it’s like your own heightened awareness. How you know exactly where an opponent will be at any given moment in a battle so you can counter their attacks. Or how you seem to know what your opponent’s planning before they do. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mage who’s mastered that as well as you, to tell you the truth. Although Karn may be pretty close.”
“I think he would be,” Tal told her.
“But he and Shaala now seem to be able to extend that ability to sense things that are not as immediate.”
“I think,” Tal said, “I should head for Hallam.”
“Why?”
“Because if something’s wrong, then I want to be somewhere more central. If I’m here in Cirreone and then I find out Ensari and Kalishar are under attack, I’m not going to be able to get there in a hurry.”
“What about me then?” Morgiana asked. “Should I join you as well?”
“No,” Tal said. “Maybe you can join me later. However, I think you should return to Kalishar first and see if anything’s happened while you were away. I know two weeks is not long but sometimes, big things happen very quickly.”
Morgiana nodded. “You’re right. I’ll return to Kalishar and let them know what’s going on. And I’ll tell Queen Isabelle that you’ll be in Hallam as well.”
“No, no,” Tal said. “I’ll ask Lord Falk to send a falcon.”
Morgiana sighed. “We really are redundant, aren’t we?”
Tal laughed. “Yes, we really are.”
“Oh, well,” Morgiana said, “I’ll still go and see Queen Isabelle. Then I might come and join you afterwards.” She smiled. “Or come running for help.”
“Sounds good,” Tal said. “Also, I’ll stop by and see Queen Haadeiya so I can tell her everything as well. The Ulak can keep watch around here too while I’m gone. Maybe she can post some sentries nearby too. Help Lord Falk out.”
Morgiana climbed to her feet as well. “We should leave now.”
“Yes,” Tal said. He then paused as he realized that this was the first time he’d seen Morgiana for over a year. He held her for a few moments. The big events could afford them that much time at least.
“It was good to see you again,” he said as he let her go.
Then, as they left the room and went their separate ways, Tal though that if they still had many long years ahead of them, he would have to make time for the two of them. It was not right that they had lived for so long and yet had never reached the intimacy that others did in infinitely shorter periods of time. He would make amends for that, he promised himself, and soon.
For four days now, Lord Keld and his companions had been trailing the Angdar party that had raided that village south of Arvenreign. They were impressive creatures, he had to admit. It didn’t matter if people feared and hated them; one couldn’t help but admire their physical prowess and their ability to push themselves harder and faster than any human. They’d manage to keep ahead of his party while on foot, and were now in the mountains near Wyvern’s Peak, eighty miles from that village.
However, something about this particular group had been bothering Keld the entire time they’d been hunting them. And not just the fact that they were making it difficult for his men. As they followed the rocky roads in the mountains, Talon voiced the concern that had been eating away at him.
“You know, Keld,” he said. “These creatures have the stamina of their breed, all right. They’ve led us on far longer than any bandit could.”
“Yes,” Keld agreed. “And leading us into that ravine where the horses couldn’t follow was a crafty move. With all the backtracking that caused, I think we lost five hours.”
“Yes,” Talon said. “They’re strong, fast and cunning. They’ve got all the qualities we love in our Angdar. But over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about what they were doing back at the village. Why would Angdar just settle for raiding food?”
“Well, this group killed a few villagers,” Keld pointed out. But Talon had raised the exact point he’d been turning over in his mind.
“Only the ones that fought,” Talon countered, which Keld also remembered. “It seems as though all they wanted to do was take their supplies, then leave the farmers so they could grow more crops and stockpile new supplies for next time.”
“That’s what I thought too. It makes sense.”
“But not for Angdar,” Talon said. “That’s not how they act. They don’t need to raid supplies. They’re tough enough to take care of themselves. I mean, I haven’t seen any of their camps, but – ”
“Me neither, but I know what you’re saying. Their way was to attack towns and villages and simply kill everyone they could find. However, when we think about what constitutes normal behavior for Angdar, we usually think about Angdar in the service of Strahd’s lieutenants and Marshal Artaeis. And their grand vision for the Greater Realms. These creatures have been living independently now for over twenty years. Who knows what they’ve made of all the changes they’ve been through?”
Talon nodded. They then had to clutch their reins as their steeds crossed a section of the road covered in scree. With evening falling, they had to be more careful where they led the horses. There were heaps of fallen rocks about the place. How the sorcerer Askenroth could have thought the area was the perfect place to build his fortress in the north, Keld didn’t know.
“Keld,” one of the forward scouts called out. “We’ve spotted them again.”
Keld and Talon rode up to the scout so they could see where he was pointing. Below the road, the mountain they were on fell away and flattened out. There was another slope in the distance, a slope that started out gently but rose to a sharp escarpment of rock with a road cutting back
and forth across its front and the remains of a fortress on the buff.
“Wyvern’s Peak,” Talon murmured. “We have gone a long way out of our way, haven’t we?”
Keld nodded, looking at the fires just off the point where the road began to climb the rock. They were a good four or five miles away and while he and his companions were on higher ground at the moment, the most direct way to the encampment would be to descend onto the flat of the plateau and ride up the other slope. The other way would be to follow the road they were on for a little while. Presumably it wound its way around the eastern face of Wyvern’s Peak and joined the main road from the north. Askenroth’s servants must have built the damn thing originally, since the Eirahir had never had any use for the region.
“There are fifty or more of them over there,” he told the others. “And there are twenty of us. If we leave the road and head across, they’ll have us at a disadvantage. Also, I don’t care to take the horses across there in the dark. There’s too much scree and too many loose boulders. We’re turning back.”
“But Keld,” Talon protested. “We’ve ridden for four days chasing these creatures. Look, the moon’s behind the slope to our right so the Angdar can’t see us. Why don’t we just follow the road and see if we can get a little closer to them?”
As a younger man, Keld knew he might have said the same thing and he remembered now that the road did circle around the mountain and join the main road on the other side. There was also an intersection east of the mountain where the road crossed an old highway of Askenroth’s that ran east to Kharadaan. This was not the road that they had taken to Wyvern’s Peak back when Kaodas had been chasing the Angdar out of Valahir but, all the same, he recognized it now. It was all coming back to him and the more it came back, the more he realized that the whole place was the worst type of death trap imaginable. He didn’t envy the mages of the order who had fought against Askenroth and Gammoroth’s forces here.
“We can’t, Talon,” he said. “It’s too dangerous. There might be more Angdar we don’t know about and if we go ahead, they might trap us. They may wait in hiding and block the road behind us or ambush us at any point where it passes under higher ground. This area is far more favorable to a defender than an attacker.”
For a moment, he experienced a moment of self– doubt. He probably should have made the decision to abandon the pursuit two days ago. He wondered what Kaolin would think of the whole thing. She never risked the lives of her people on pointless errands.
However, at least Talon had conceded the point. He didn’t look happy about it but Keld could hardly fault him on that. He wasn’t happy about either.
“Do you think this is where the Angdar are coming from?” the scout asked.
“I don’t think so, Halvar,” Keld replied. “I think they’re heading farther east. However, our pursuit hasn’t been in vain. We’ve learnt that they’re using these old roads to evade our patrols and the Valahir border guards, and they may be using the whole area to set up forward camps from which to launch their raids. We’ll return to Orishelm now but perhaps we might send out a few more scouting groups to see where the bulk of the Angdar are hiding. I think we have a better idea now of where to look.”
IV. Bearers of Ill Tidings
North of Cirreone, on the plains of Araseu, were several villages of simple thatched buildings. Twenty years earlier, the area had been almost deserted. Now, it was home to the Ulak who had left the Entruscian Mountains after the war. Not all the Ulak had left, of course. Having lived in the mountains all their lives, many were still happy there. However, for others, the plains had called to them and those who had made the journey had adapted well to their new home.
Walking alongside Queen Haadeiya, their leader, Tal could understand. The vast open space certainly had its appeal. And unlike the plains of Khalahi in the Southern Lands, the sun here didn’t beat the unwary traveler into submission.
“And Karn feels the continent may be threatened?” Haadeiya asked him.
“He does,” Tal replied. “But he doesn’t know why he and Shaala experienced this sudden warning. In any case though, I want to be in Hallam for the next little while. It’s about as close as I can get to being halfway between Cirreone and Kalishar. And I think it’s better to be on the coast. News travels faster down there.”
“Yes, it does seem that way,” Queen Haadeiya agreed. “Now, would you or Lord Falk like me to post sentinels near Cirreone?”
Tal had hoped that she would make that offer. “That would be very helpful. Cirreone’s well established now, but we don’t have anywhere near the number of soldiers they have in Kalishar or Ensari. Even the Eirahir lands have more soldiers than we do, and they were never that populated to begin with.” He shrugged. “But Cirreone was rebuilt as a trading port and so traders are what we have.”
Haadeiya smiled. “You have no need to fear. Our people will be vigilant in your absence. Would Lord Falk object if some of us stayed in the city itself?”
“I’ve raised this possibility with him already,” Tal said. “He would welcome your people in the city. He’d be glad of the help. And if I could give you any token to show my own appreciation, you just name it.”
Haadeiya laughed and shook her head. “I’ll keep it in mind.” She then placed a slender hand on Tal’s shoulder. “But, you know, there’s no debt between friends.”
Four days later, Keld and his party had returned to Orishelm, where Kaolin awaited their news.
“So is Wyvern’s Peak a stronghold for them?” she asked her husband when he had finished telling her about his abandoned chase.
“We didn’t get close enough to the fortress to see,” Keld replied, “but I don’t think so. Although I suspect they find the surrounding area useful for throwing off pursuers.”
“Why are they raiding at all though? It seems to be something they’ve only recently started doing.”
Keld shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Several days later, Karn and Shaala arrived in Orishelm on horseback. After seeing that their animals were taken care of, they walked to the home of Lady Kaolin and Lord Keld. There was nothing grand about the place and it was no larger than many of the other homes that had been built about the city either. In fact, the only way it differed from most of them was its proximity to the town hall where the more formal business of governing Arahir was usually conducted.
Under other circumstances, Karn and Shaala might have headed there instead. However, they knew before they had even arrived at Orishelm that Lady Kaolin and her husband were at home.
Karn rapped the door with its iron handle.
“Yes?” a woman’s voice called out.
“It’s Karn. Shaala’s with me too.”
“Karn?”
They heard the sliding of the door bolt and Lady Kaolin appeared. “Well, this is a surprise. Please, come in.”
Lady Kaolin was quite welcoming but neither she nor her husband were particularly well acquainted with Karn and Shaala so their meeting was a little uncomfortable.
As Kaolin led her guests into the main room, Lord Keld came down the stairs adjusting the cuffs of his tunic. He smiled as he saw the new arrivals.
“Karn. Shaala. Good to see you.”
“Likewise,” Karn replied.
Keld was about to say something else when a small child came bounding into the room, carrying a model of a wooden ship in one hand. “Mother! Look, what I...” He paused as he saw Karn and Shaala. “Um...”
Karn stared at the boy in sudden shock. Clearly this was Kaolin and Keld’s son Kelahil, even though he was twice the size he’d been when Karn had last seen him. However, the shock had nothing to do with the change in the boy’s physical appearance. The moment he saw him come into the room, Karn was hit with some sense that the boy was in danger. That everyone in the room was in danger.
“Kelahil,” Kaolin said. “Why don’t you go and play outside for a little while?”
“Okay, Mother,” Kelahil
replied, his tone polite and remarkably controlled for a boy of his age.
Kaolin gave him a little kiss and watched him leave through the front door before turning back to her guests, oblivious to Karn’s inner plight.
Only Shaala sensed he was troubled by something. “Are you all right?” she asked, speaking to him in his thoughts.
“Later,” he replied in the same manner.
“Sorry about that,” Kaolin said after Kelahil had gone.
“So,” Keld asked their guests, “what brings you to Orishelm?”
“We wanted to warn you,” Karn told him.
“Warn us? About what?”
Karn hesitated. “It’s a little embarrassing, to tell you the truth. We’re not quite sure.”
“We had a vague sense that the Greater Realms are in danger,” Shaala added.
Keld shrugged. “Well, that sounds like something to do with the gift and that’s your domain, not mine. However, we’ll endeavor to be more vigilant in watching our borders.”
Karn sighed. “I know it’s a little strange. I’m sorry.”
“Here,” Kaolin said, opening the door to the homestead. “This is a place we keep for important visitors. There are beds for the both of you, with beds to spare, and they’re all quite comfortable.”
“Thank you,” Shaala replied.
When she and Karn were alone, she turned to her husband. “Did you sense something back there too?”
Karn nodded. “Yes. Only, this time it was different. This time, the danger felt far more imminent. And personal. I felt that Lady Kaolin, her husband and her son were all in danger.”
“I felt it too,” Shaala said. Then she frowned and staggered forward, screwing her eyes closed. She put her hands out, catching the table in the middle of the room and stopped her fall.
She had seen towering mountains, their lofty peaks crowned with ice and snow. Down below, on the desolate plains, there had been thousands of Angdar. And soaring above them and heading due west, she had seen a massive dragon with a hide like glistening ruby and obsidian stripes. She had never seen a striped dragon before. This was a spectacular creature. Not as large as Dominicon had been perhaps but nevertheless something to behold.
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