Once We Were Kings (Young Adult Fantasy) (The Sojourner Saga)

by Alexander, Ian

  Until a sudden noise alerted the four of them. Each whirled to the trail, ready to strike.

  "No, wait!" Branson cowered and shielded his face. When they realized it was only the boy, the lowered their hands and weapons.

  "Oh, it's you," Render sighed. The incessant coward had a way of popping up like a weed at the most inopportune moments.

  "I say! What goes?" The boy looked simultaneously apprehensive and annoyed. "That cat—that is to say—that panther, and that enormous bird. How did they all do that?

  A short interval of silence.

  Then the four carried on as if Branson had never appeared. Ignoring him, they gathered together and told the stories of their respective journeys to the now defunct Sojourner's Council. Render marveled at how this frail man could transform into that formidable bird of prey. And that Ahndien had ridden him as an archer rides a horse.

  As Lao-Ying spoke of the moment he and the girl had arrived, Ahndien, who heretofore had seemed to possess a heart of granite, began to weep. Bitterly, she sobbed and shook her head. Render turned to Greifer and the old man.

  "Xing Bai Juang, the fifth and newest elder, who was murdered with the rest of them, whose sword you hold..." Lao-Ying pointed to it. "He was Ahndien's father."

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  “But how do you know this was your father's sword?" Render stood guarded, but his heart softened when he saw this lethal and altogether beautiful girl weep. Nevertheless, the fact that she had nearly incinerated him encumbered the fullness of his compassion.

  Ahndien reached for the sword at her side. It rang out as she unsheathed it. Out of instinct, Render stepped back and swung forward the sword in his hand. Almost quicker than he could see, Ahndien slashed at him and their blades clashed, making an otherworldly, almost musical sound.

  "Behold the chord struck." Greifer pointed to the symbols carved into the blades of both swords. Behold the markings. They bear an uncanny resemblance."

  "Like those." Render pointed to the ones she had touched to open the portal to the Assembly Hall.

  Lao-Ying nodded and regarded him gravely. "They are of the Ancient Sojourner lexicon."

  "Can you read it?"

  The old man gazed at the writing and read as though reciting.

  First, Render's sword: "Two weapons of war..."

  Then Ahndien's: "...One instrument of peace."

  The last symbol of the phrase on Render's blade looked identical to the first on Ahndien's. He pointed to them. "What does this say?"

  "It means: United."

  Two weapons of war—UNITED—One instrument of peace.

  With a grunt, Ahndien threw her sword down. It stuck a rock on the ground sending sparks into the air. "If they didn't kill them, then who did?" she shouted.

  At that moment, a frightened but very determined Branson stepped forward. "Killed?"

  "Who is this child?" Lao-Ying said, asking aloud what everyone else seemed to be thinking. Render explained as much as he could before growing weary of Branson's terse and haughty interruptions and corrections. But then the boy said something that drew an unexpected reaction from both Lao-Ying and Greifer.

  Lao-Ying cleared his throat with a raspy cough. "Agon? The Lord Agon, son of Refalla, son of Lusera?"

  "Yes, yes. It's all public knowledge. Why should this surprise you so?"

  "Was not his coat of arms the Red Gryphon?" Greifer said. Branson stepped forward and lifted his closed fist. On his finger, he wore a signet ring. Render leaned forward and saw the icon. A winged lion, with the head of an eagle.

  Lao-Ying and Greifer regarded each other with unspoken understanding. "Yes, I did see it," the elderly man said.

  "Alas, Agon." Greifer lowered her head.

  "What are you all blathering about?" Branson pushed forward and rushed to the portal. He began to slap the etched markings on the doorframe, “He's in there, isn't he?"

  Neither of them replied.

  "Take me to him, now!" Now with both fists clenched tight, he pounded on the stone door. His voice broke into a shrill cry. "Right now! Right now!"

  As always, demanding, condescending. Render had just about had his fill with this child, spoilt by indulgence and privilege. "Oh, do shut up, you petulant little beast!"

  But Branson only buried his face in his hands and leaned his head against the wall. For the first time, in all the time Render had known him, Branson wept.

  "You're as callous are you are obtuse!" Ahndien hissed at Render, as she brushed past him and bumped his shoulder. She went over to Branson and put a consoling arm around him. Her words were hushed, but her demeanor soft, compassionate.

  Soon, Greifer and Lao-Ying gathered around the boy and they spoke so quietly that Render could not discern a word. After a brief exchange, Greifer opened the door once again and Branson along with his entourage walked in.

  "That's just wonderful." Render heaved a sigh and followed behind them, hoping whatever it was that had so engrossed them with Branson's outburst would eclipse all else. Before he reached the end of the hall, which opened to the courtyard where all the fallen Sojourner Council members lay dead, Render heard Branson let out another cry.

  "No! Father, no!" And the weeping resumed. At the entrance to the courtyard. Greifer took the boy who wept into her embrace. Ahndien stared away, angry tears rolling down her face.

  It seemed the only person willing or able to speak with Render was that old eagle-man. He was crouched down with his hands upon the heads of two fallen Elders, his eyes solemnly shut.

  "What has happened?" Render asked, with quiet humility. In response to his presence, Ahndien whipped around, trudged away from him and sat upon a stone bench with clenched fists.

  Lao-Ying opened his eyes and stood. "We arrived shortly before you, Ahndien and I, expecting to seek counsel from the Assembly. Her father had been taken prisoner by...we are not even certain who it was that took him after the raid on their village. The last thing we expected to find was her father dead, along with all the Elders here."

  "Who would do this?"

  "We thought it was you."

  "Why would I want to—?"

  "It may have been the Torians, or Xieh-Suh's people. What's even more puzzling than who, or why, is how."

  Greifer directed Branson to sit with Ahndien, then came to join the discussion. "They have both lost their fathers. We do well to afford them time to mourn."

  Lao-Ying nodded and regarded the bodies strewn about the courtyard. "I have never prepared myself for this."

  "Nor have I."

  "It was simply not within the realms of possibility."

  Intrigued as Render was by it all, one question refused to stay put in his mind. He turned to Greifer. "Why have we come here, in the first place?"

  "It hath been so ordained, long ago."

  Lao-Ying was now gazing around the courtyard, his lips moving silently, his finger pointing from one body to the next. Suddenly, he stopped, recounted, then turned back. "But one is missing. Besides The Lord Agon and Ahndien's father, there should have been five Elders."

  Branson ran over to the body of the fallen Sojourner. "Father!"

  "Wait!" Ahndien ran after him, but not in time to stop him from turning lifting the black cape that bore the Red Gryphon insignia off of its face.

  "But...this is not my father!"

  Greifer and Lao-Ying gathered around and marveled. "Are you certain," the old man asked.

  "Without a doubt." He laughed nervously. "This Sir Nolin, his right hand...My father is still alive then!"

  "This is puzzling," Greifer said. "We are without direction and must seek out the shrine of Valhandra. Or truly, all shall be lost."

  The old man straightened up. His eyes opened wider than before and his woolen eyebrows crumpled together. "With respect. I must disagree. It is now clear that we must find the fifth elder. He alone holds the answers we seek, he will know who is responsible for this massacre."

  "Now, more than ever, we should seek Valh
andra's counsel."

  "You wish to seek him?" Lao-Ying set his jaw firm and narrowed his eyes. "Where was Valhandra when our villages were attacked, women and innocent children slaughtered? Where was Valhandra when his faithful council of Sojourner Eelders breathed their last? Seek him? I think not!"

  Render stepped between them both. The etchings in the pair of swords flashed in his mind. UNITED—One instrument of peace. "We mustn't fight amongst ourselves or we'll be doing our enemy's work for them—whoever they might be."

  "Lao-Ying?" Ahndien, the cold-hearted warrior, now looking more like a frightened girl, approached, wiping her eye and sniffling.

  "Come, child." He stretched forth his hand. "We must find the missing elder."

  "But we came here to seek the council, to seek the wisdom of Valhandra's prophets."

  "They sought him as well. And now? They're all dead!" Lao-Ying threw his arms up. The sleeves of his white robe flowed open and he began to transform. Sleeves and arms into vast wings. Sandals and feet into formidable Talons. "Come, Ahndien. I've seen enough."

  But she did not. Nor did she answer.

  "Please, Ahndien. We have been mistaken. For half a millennium, we have misplaced our faith!"

  Render tried to grasp at one of his wings. "No, Lao-Ying, wait!" But Lao-Ying, now fully in his eagle form, screeched and snapped at his neck with his curved razor beak.

  The eagle tilted its head, gazing straight into Ahndien's eyes. She shook her head, her lips quivering and silently mouthed, "No."

  Letting out a mournful cry, the eagle leapt and flew into the sky. The clothing of the dead Sojourners ruffled in the breeze as wind kicked up leaves and sand, obscuring the air with a cloud of dust.

  Render marveled that Ahndien had remained. She kept watching as the great bird's form grew smaller and smaller into the clouds. There was a sadness in her eyes, but at the same time an immovable determination.

  Once again, in the recesses of his mind, swords flashed, the smooth deadly sound of blades striking. And then the image of the symbols etched into the blades, which he now recognized and understood:

  Two weapons of war—UNITED—one instrument of peace.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  It struck Render as unexpected how everything changed in so short a time. Within the hour, he and Greifer had defended themselves from supposed enemies only to find that they were not. And now with Lao-Ying's flight and the revelation of Branson's Sojourner heritage, the one thing needed to complete Render's absolute confusion now happened before his very eyes.

  Ahndien knelt over her fallen father, weeping and trying in vain to stir him. Greifer went and stood over her. The shadow she cast over him and onto the blood stained ground did not match her human form. It was more like that of the great panther. Had this been a month ago, it would have made Render stare in wonder.

  When Ahndien took notice of her, she stood, turned and sank into her arms. With a motherly caress to the young lady's head, she held her, her eyes condolent. "There, child."

  A few minutes passed, and Ahndien regained her composure. Courage steeled her countenance and she went over to Branson, who sat on the large tree stump, staring up into the clouds.

  "He'd been away so long." Branson wiped his eyes and sniffed. "King Corigan was always sending him to battle somewhere, and as soon as he returned, he'd send him out again."

  "How did you know to come here?" Greifer asked him.

  "He had been acting strangely since last year when my mother died—they say she was lost at sea. From then, he became suspicious, not trusting anyone. But he would always say to me, ‘To the hills, the tallest summit by Handara.’" If anything were to happen, if he failed to signal me for longer than a fortnight, I should at all costs come here."

  "So you knew there would be an attack on the castle!" Render said, remembering the last time he saw his brother alive.

  "I knew nothing of the sort! It was three days past the time I should have left." He straightened himself up and wiped his face. "And what happened here? Where is my father?"

  Until now Ahndien stood quietly, her eyes squeezed shut, her lips quivering as she uttered silent words. Until... "Render."

  Surprised, he answered, "What is it?"

  "My father managed to escape the Torian raiders and find his lost sword, the one you now hold. How do you suppose he overcame them?"

  Fire? Lightning? These were abilities that Render had only begun to manifest, though he had no explanation for them. "I don't know."

  The crying was over now. Her tear-softened countenance toughened once again and she stood. "Father often spoke to me of the Sojourner's spirit potential. All my life, I thought he was entertaining me with fairy tales, children's stories and legends. But after all I've experienced, all I've witnessed, especially today, I know it is real."

  At this Render became animated. "How long have you been able to...?"

  "Just recently. Lao-Ying had been training me."

  "Quite well, I'll daresay." He glanced down to the hole burned into his shirt. "How you managed to survive the lightning I conjured is beyond—"

  "And what about you? I struck you with my worst." Ahndien ran her hand through his hair. "Not even one singed."

  At this point, Greifer stopped her pacing and said, "I must retreat to a quiet place and...and think."

  "Wait." Ahndien stepped forward. "There's so much I want to ask you. So much I need to—"

  "Perhaps later, young one." And with that, she became a black panther once again and stepped outside, her tail whipping back and forth.

  Branson groaned. "Oh, I do hate when she does that."

  In response, Ahndien touched Render's arm gently and said, "I think I should talk with him, he's distraught and frightened."

  "If you only knew him the way I do."

  "After Lao-Ying left like that, I am not certain I know anyone anymore."

  "Go ahead. I'll see if I can find Greifer and bring her back so we can decide what to do next."

  "What do you think we should do?"

  Render glanced over to the dead Elders in the courtyard. "Let's give them a proper burial."

  The sun blazed high over the treetops and burned away the fog in the valley below. Many a song bird twittered and Jicaba beetles sang, all as if nothing remarkable had happened here. No battle to the death with unearthly powers, no massacre of Sojourner Elders, no loss of fathers.

  And the fact that both Ahndien and Branson’s fathers had been Sojourner Elders, one Torian and the other Tianese, should have struck Render as odd, or at the very least, coincidental.

  It did not.

  Instead, it made him think about his own father, whom he had never known. Yes, Kaine had always said that Father had been killed that same night in which mother...

  // RENDER //

  But who was this? The voice that entered his thoughts, his very soul, was not Greifer's. She was nowhere in sight, anyway. Nor was this the voice of his doppelganger. No, it seemed much more powerful, fearsome, and at the same time, it drew him.

  He didn't even think to answer. He just allowed his feet to take him to where it seemed the voice emanated. Pebbles crunched beneath his feet, a hot breeze, like that which rushes from a freshly opened oven flew into his face.

  Render continued to walk towards the edge of the chasm, towards the face of Mount Handara.

  // RENDER //

  With each step, he heard a smaller voice in the back of his thoughts. What if it were the voice of his enemy, the doppelganger, or some other form of evil intent, luring him to the edge of the precipice, only to have him fall and be dashed to pieces?

  Doubts notwithstanding, he could not resist the call. He didn't want to. As he neared the end of the ledge, a white rush of steam—a cloud perhaps—rushed up from the valley below, right before his face.

  But he didn't flinch.

  Now the voice called again, but this time it was heard echoing throughout the valley, across the manifold summits of the mountain range,
causing even the ground to shake with its magnitude.

  "RENDER."

  With a loud whoosh came a column of fire that burst through cloud. And before him was what could only feebly be described as a brilliance, like that of a star, pulsing with...with life, energy, supreme wisdom. It was as if the sun itself had descended and now confronted him. But that too would be but a child's description of what he could never quite put into words for the rest of his natural life.

  Filled with awe, and dread, and excitement, Render stepped forward, not realizing until he nearly slipped that he had been standing on the edge of a cliff. He took in a sharp breath and watched broken pieces of the ground fall eternally. He never heard them hit the bottom.

  The light before him swelled, as though taking a deep breath. With profound rumblings, the mountains quaked, causing pieces of rock to crumble and fall all around him.

  "COME FORTH, RENDER."

  One step further and he would fall over the edge. Instead, he leaned as far forward as he dared. "Here I am."

  "VERILY, I SAY UNTO THEE, RENDER, THOU MUST STEP BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THY IMAGINATION."

  Surely, he did not mean...But if this were who Render knew he must be, then..."Forgive my ignorance, but...are you—?"

  "I AM."

  From the bottom of his feet to the very ends of the hairs upon his head, he felt a tingling charge rush through his entire body. Even his bare hands began to glow, pure and white. The light from the great white flame smoldering before him enveloped him.

  "REMOVE THY SHOES AND CAST THE OUTER GARMENTS FROM THY SHOULDERS, FOR THE GROUND UPON WHICH THOU STANDETH IS HALLOWED."

  Render obeyed. And though any question in his mind as to whose presence he stood before faded, he still felt the compulsion to ask. To speak His name.

  "Then it's true. You're—"

  "I AM HE. WHO FORMED THE WORLDS BEFORE ALL THINGS CAME TO BE. YEA, BEFORE I LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THIS, AND ALL WORLDS, I AM. BEFORE YOUR SUN GAVE THIS WORLD LIGHT, I AM. BEFORE THE FIRMAMENTS LIT THE NIGHT, I AM."

  Terror, excitement and recognition surged through him. Render fell on his knees and buried his face into the ground. Even His name has power.