Darkness Rising (Ancient Vestiges Book 1)

by Brenden Gardner

  I risked that, though not too closely.

  The Brood did not espy patrol ships upon the sea. If it came to it, she was prepared to spill islander blood. It never came to pass.

  After a brief journey, Aerona saw the dried-up lands of Isilia. The port town was nameless, though there were children’s toys in the yards, work horses brayed and shat, and the dirt roads still bore fresh ruts from carts and carriages.

  They have all gone to the capital, though not long ago.

  She had the Brood search the stone houses, broke into sheds and armouries, and stole from the granaries. It was a long trip to Isil, and there was a need of information, supplies, and bread.

  They found little enough.

  The Brood moved quickly and quietly, through hills and valleys, mountains and flat plains. Oft the path meandered through the wild, but Aerona chanced some villages and towns. Those were empty and lifeless. Not a soul dared remained.

  For as much as we loathe the imperator, they love him, fleeing to his protection at the cost of all they held dear.

  She had arrived after the battle began. Many had died: young and old, it did not matter. Even when the imperium fell as her Brood descended upon the eastern front, she was filled with hope. Ser Elin and Ser Johnathan stood tall and proud. The knights were intractable, but she held onto hope that her play would reap the future she craved.

  Then it all fell apart. Claire, Jessica, Dominique and Lara. The greatest women to ever pick up steel. All dead at the hands of Lord Aleksander.

  They lay there just like the people of Lakarn. They never came back. Nor will my brood. This is all I have. My memories…

  “Not long ago I would have been dead to stand here. Good that we have made up, yes?”

  “Crimson is not your colour,” Aerona said dismissively to the tall man who stood beside her. Desperation pushed her towards Darelle; him and the rogue swords that stood in defiance of the overlord. It was an agreement that Aerona questioned much. There was something about the smug sellsword that she did not like, though she had to trust him. “I doubt it looks better on me.”

  “It is what a man should see when he sticks a tip of steel into a foe,” Darelle said with a smile. “It is all terribly confusing when one’s friends fight in these colours, and are not corpses. I do not know how Davat has done it all these years.”

  “I trust he remains blind.”

  “If only I could take credit for that myself. True enough, I have loyal men who would die for me, yes. Ah, but when they saw you return with our friend, it is then that they pledged their swords to me. We have half the captains in our employ. Yes, he was blind when this smuggler crossed our waters. I saw him myself, though he did not see me.”

  “Strange bedfellows,” Aerona murmured.

  “I trust you know what it is that you are doing, my friend. I, for one, do not like it.”

  I have no choice, was what Aerona wanted to say, though she could not say that, not to this man. Darelle had remained long after he could have left, it was true. Their time together began with espying Lakarn, seeking the Faceless Shadow and his minions.

  We found him, too.

  She nor Darelle found the cloaked lord again, and with Sebastien missing, moving in secret became much more difficult.

  Darelle will not let it go. It is all connected somehow. Does he sense that? “Strange bedfellows, Darelle.”

  “Keep your councils then,” the man scoffed. “But do not forget that you have a friend in Darelle. I have never much cared for the politics of this country. I am a simple man, you see. I like my steel, my drinks, and my women. Aught else can sink to the bottom of the sea for all I care. You are not my woman. I doubt we would ever get along in chambers. Still, I would not have you depart this realm.”

  “I do not intend to leave. Not until this is over.”

  “Good.” Darelle seemed pleased. “I will leave you for another guest, worth more than me who would like to speak with you. I must see to the reports. The return of the Corsair must be arranged, still.”

  Aerona did not hear the rogue leave; only the tap tap tap of a cane against the rock, and the soft swaying of wool. Old Gregory Tanev arrived: his beard was longer than what she remembered, and his face was creased and worn. She leaned down softly and embraced the old man, and let him kiss her cheek.

  “I did not think to look for you here,” she admitted.

  “I had thought that lass I raised had better sense than to come to the one place the tyrant would come to look,” Gregory scolded.

  “He does not know of this place, no more than he knows the men are no longer loyal to him.”

  “Do not think yourself safe, Aerona. That will lead you to ruin. These old bones know it. Damian is ever dangerous, more now that men in cowls advise him.”

  “Men?” How much snooping have you done, old man? “There is but one.”

  “Men, yes, hrrn-hnn. I am old, not blind, or whatever else you think I have become. I have seen them, yes, these old eyes saw them in places they should not be, when I know they are in others. We know naught of these men in cowls. No good comes from a hidden face, let me tell you that.”

  “I have seen such men before. I will be fine.”

  “Hrrn-hnn, of that we will see. That is not what worries me. Darelle is rightly suspicious of the Corsair. I told you as much when you first came back to us, did I not? What did I say to you? I will remember. He was a pompous buffoon! I meant to tell him that, pity I will no longer without upsetting you.”

  “What would upset me,” Aerona said, smiling from ear to ear. “Is to see you a head shorter for the attempt.”

  “Nonsense,” Gregory said, fingering his cane. “I still have fight left in me.” The old man sighed, staring despondently into the distance. “Be careful, Aerona. You may not remember, but he was a cutthroat who traded with any man, turned on many, silenced them for all time. I fear he is leveraging the Voice.”

  “It is to him that we must trust, old friend. I do not like it much either. I know that when he comes—and he will, I know that—he will see me in the same light as he does Damian. I am… complicit in my consort’s crimes. I must believe that the Corsair’s actions are guided by the same intent as mine: for the survival of the Eastern Lands. He will do the right thing, I am sure.

  “Heh, he sings a sweet song, that man always has; then you feel the dagger between your ribs,” the old man sighed. “Listen to Darelle, my dear, listen to him. Trust him as you do me. That is all I mean to say.”

  The tap tap tap reverberated against the rock again.

  Is that all you offer in warmth and counsel?

  Another matter itched at her: a startling experience that she did not tell a soul of. Part of her did not want to tell the old man. It is not that I do not trust him, I do, but what would he think of such nonsense?

  Aerona reluctantly said, “I would seek your counsel on another matter, before you return home.”

  “Hrnn-hnn,” was all he said as the tap tap tap became louder.

  “I had a dream.” A lie but I will not let him think I am crazy.

  “So did I, Aerona. I was younger on the deck of my Dragonfly once again. No more than the wish of an old man. That is all dreams are, wishes for what was, and what will be.”

  She ignored that. “I was in a round stone chamber, surrounded by twelve balconies. Atop each were old men, no, the same old man, bent and haggard, though each wore a different coloured robe, but spoke with the same voice. They spoke to me of the Seed of Life and the Bringer of Dawn. What do you make of it, old friend?”

  “Hmm,” the old man muttered, stroking his beard. “If you would ask after pious fancies, you should ask a priest, not an old captain.”

  “Is it from scripture?”

  “Hrrn-hnn, yes. I was no stranger to Dalian ports in my day. Heh, even to Dale itself I was moored. The priests were as bleating then as they are today. I listened and learned. That I did. I did not care much for their bloody book, but I heard once
their three-century dead prophet Gabriel referred to as the ‘True Seed.’ That is for the first point. Bringer of Dawn could be any such thing. Sounds to me like robed pontificating.”

  “I dreamt it, I—”

  “Where did it come from, girl? It is no more than that. It was a dream. Let it be.”

  It was so real. Damian experienced something too—what I do not know. “Where will you go now, old friend?” she asked.

  “Where I am needed, hrrn-hnn,” Gregory replied obstinately. “Where you should be Aerona. This story begins and ends with the overlord. You can do naught but drown in your sorrows here. Return soon, trust in your friends. That is the Dawn, whatever the priests may say.”

  “I will see you there, old friend.”

  Gregory guffawed before he turned and walked away. The tap tap tap was all she heard. It was the only sound in all the realm.

  Afternoon turned to evening, and then evening gave way to night, and Aerona still lingered. She received no more guests and heard no more noises. She thought and contemplated, but all that came to her was sorrow and regret.

  I must put this behind me.

  She gave one last look at the cavern, let her head drop, and walked out the cave mouth.

  She took a narrow rock road to the east. Clear of the path, she put her fingers into wide, thin hollows, and climbed the sheer cliff wall. It was short, but hidden, and soon came on to the flat top. The ground was more dirt and gravel, and there she lay gazing at the stars.

  In a time that seemed so long ago, she would wake in the middle of the night, and walk to the deck of her father’s ship in no more than what clung to her. Most nights there was only a steersman on deck, and he would give her no more regard than he would a gull that perched on the masts near at shore. Back then, she wondered if that was father’s doing. A part of her knew it was. Men of the sea were too anxious to espy the affairs of others. It bore little thought on those nights. All that mattered were those twinkling lights in the sky.

  She climbed the mast as high as she could, and looked up towards the night sky. The stars looked like a warrior, sword outstretched, flying through the night. When she looked at another spot there was a great bowman shooting some fell beast, or a man tall and proud in judgment. One night her father was sleepless, and she showed him all that she discovered. He went along with it, admiring their shape and beauty, but she knew that he never saw anything.

  For all that my father was, he never saw more than what was plain to his face.

  Aerona always thought her father kind and warm, but fearless and merciless to his enemies. He would walk the deck in daylight, and take the time to learn the name of every man and woman who served him: where they came from, what they did before, and what they strove for. “If you are to lead a crew—and you will one day,” he told her more than once, “you must learn who and what they are. Not to guard against mutiny, girl, no. In our time, we must defend our deck and family; no man or woman will die for you unless they know who you are and what you mean to them. In the heat of battle, they will know your nature. Most of all, you will know if you treated your crew well.”

  Her father sailed the open seas for decades. He battled and raided, smuggled and traded, and men in towns flocked to serve him. It was those stories that brought Gregory Tanev to the Hammer in the twilight of his years. The man had traded and whored, but lost his ship and crew in a terrible storm some two years past. “Aye, I thought not to return to sea. But I will now, if you would have a fool.”

  Aerona’s father never thought the man a fool.

  Five years the men fought and sailed together. For most of those years, she was old enough to be on the ship’s deck, though still a child herself. She would sit near Gregory whenever she could, listening to his stories, learning at his elbow. She thought she had two fathers, and could not be happier.

  Then it all changed, three years before the rise of the overlord.

  She was ashore in Lanan when it happened. She was making ‘the runs’ as it was called in days past: captaining smaller, faster ships as they visited the coves and hidden places on the islands. Man or woman with gold could procure anything from flesh to supplies to secrets to rare treasures. There were whispers that the old king in Trecht bestirred himself; his fleets were spotted to the north, off the Dalian coast. It was always taken as tall tales and hearsay. Still, she listened, for the tongues of the traders wagged ceaselessly, and every now and then they would let slip who came to port, what they were after, and what they were told. Her father was especially interested in any news regarding overlarge crystals.

  Of that Aerona learned little, despite the honeyed words and flirtatious looks she would give the traders. They all spoke of tension betwixt the powers, Dalia shutting down its northern trade, and Isilia burning every ship that came in sight of land. Her father would not be interested in any of it.

  She was holed up in Lanan a week longer than she intended; every day fearing her father’s displeasure, mixed with worry at the lateness of his arrival. The seas were calm, and she feared the worst. Then, one rainy night, Gregory Tanev came to her, wet and bedraggled with sadness in his eyes. “He is gone, girl. We did not see them coming. Your father, our Robett, he is why we live.”

  She ran out to the streets and cried her eyes out, denying what she heard, cursing her mentor as a liar. Much as she might scream and wail, it was true, and only a fool denied a truth that she could plainly see.

  A handful of men had survived, all who served her father loyally for many years. Aerona blamed them, and threatened them all. “He gave you everything! Everything! You let him die. Why do you live and he died?! Why?! Why?! Why?!” If they ever answered she did not hear, overcome with grief.

  One by one they left. All but Gregory Tanev. “I made a promise to Robett. I intend to keep it,” he told her.

  He has been by my side ever since. Father, are you among the stars now? Am I looking up at you, and you down at me? Do you see the warrior, the bowman, the proud lord? Are you the fearless captain that I can see now? I did not see one before, but now it is as clear to me as if you stood beside me. I hope that is what you are. I… need guidance.

  Twice in her life she did not know what to do. When she was fatherless, and when she lost her Brood. Gregory stood by her both times. She saw a strength in the old captain when she lost her father; she clung to it and never let go. Now Gregory was an old man. He tried, he wanted so much to help, but there was so little that he could do.

  I must brave this maelstrom on my own now, and make the choices that seem right.

  Hours passed since Aerona lay down, looking at the stars, mulling the same questions over and over. There was always a poor choice, and a decision that made her lifeless.

  Will I join you Father?

  “Not for long I hope.”

  She grasped a dirk and swiftly turned to the voice. She saw a dim outline of a man. It was too dark to see if he was armed. “Who are you?” she demanded.

  “Someone who believes in you,” the man said solemnly.

  “No riddles!”

  “I speak for the Twelve Who Are One.”

  No. How could he. That is—

  “Lord Daniel and Ashleigh will learn much at the Betrayer’s hand. If you but seek Vindication, you will learn more, and bring the Dawn that the realm craves.”

  “Vindication?”

  “A legacy that you have shunned.”

  “Why me? Why a daughter of the islands?”

  “You survived what should have ended you. I went to great strides to ensure that.”

  “The man in white…”

  “Now you are beginning to understand. We gave you life, and we can take it away, if that is what you prefer.”

  I never asked for this. “Where is this… Vindication.”

  “Interred, awaiting your hand. Do you not have ears to listen?” The man sighed audibly. “Claim it before the Betrayer’s dog does. Avert a second calamity.”

  The man was gone. She
went to where he stood, but she saw no footprints. She searched the barren ground for miles. Her footprints were the only mark upon the earth. The morning was near when she came back to Ashen Falls. Empty. Just as I left it.

  I do not understand it. Vindication? What is that? Is that the—

  Suddenly understanding dawned. Aerona donned her crimson garb, strapped on her sword belt, and left the cavern.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Old Life

  Daniel stood on the deck of the Dalian vessel, the Sea Calmer, on the eighth day out from port.

  “This cannot wait.”

  He turned from watching the rushing water, and looked upon Ashleigh Coburn. She had left her pristine armour in the hold, wearing white linens, sword sheathed on her left hip, a dirk upon her right. She was not scared, but looked over her shoulder constantly.

  I cannot fault her for that. “They do not trust you,” Daniel reminded her. “They would slay you, if they could. I would be the only one to say no.”

  “Old ways die hard. I had… suspected that I would be welcomed thus. I wanted to come on deck before, to talk and work as I had before. I learned much at the feet of Rafael. Know the men, know their feelings, he would oft say. I doubt he ever thought of this circumstance, but it serves.”

  “Lord Commander Rafael Azail was a good man by all accounts.” Daniel met the lord commander once, long ago. Hard, tall, brash, but good intentioned. During the war, Daniel heard all the tales from Dalia. He could not believe half of them, not of that man. “You remind me of him.”

  “No one ever will, not anymore. He is dead, I would keep him that way.”

  You were more than his sentinel. “Where shall I tell the steersman to moor? The southern coast is wide and desolate, with few landmarks. I would not waste time to reach the Belt of Life.”

  Ashleigh stared out listlessly as she answered. “Keep to the shore, head east. You will see the towering mountains, and the remains of a—you will see it. Then you and I will walk north. It will not be long.”

  “The mountain, does it stretch all along the land?”