“Close to three hundred,” Alena replied. “Far more than that were injured.”
“It was a terrible battle,” Sarrac said. “But, the gods were with us. It's a miracle we didn't lose far more than that.”
“It is,” Darek nodded. “Grathis had some of his best there. Commander Galfas is downright deadly.”
“At least now he's downright dead,” Joey chuckled.
“We can't be sure of that,” Alena pointed out. “We wounded him severely, but I don't know that we killed him.”
“It's hard to tell,” Myra replied. “Telseir is an artifact, and it looked like Paul stabbed him right through the heart. We may have seen the last of him, but we may not have.”
“My point is that Grathis took this battle very seriously,” Darek said. “It really is amazing that we lost as few men as we did. Not to mention how many of his soldiers we managed to slaughter. Especially considering the fact that we were facing warriors of Galfas' skill. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I saw her, as well, just before that last turn of yours. I wonder if it killed her?”
“Her?” Nyssa asked.
“That vampiress that has a crush on me,” he explained. “Or had, I suppose. It probably hasn't lasted through all the killing of each other’s allies that we've done since we first met.”
“Her name is Aurora Calden,” Myra replied. “I'm sure I saw her, so you may very well have.”
“It's funny that I never thought of that before,” Darek said, turning his eyes to the maiden. “You know her, don't you?”
“I have for close to twenty years,” she replied. “I know a lot of undead and I know those that serve – or served – Lord and Lady Telraen very well. Although, for some strange reason, I don't really like to talk about it.”
“Right,” Darek nodded. “Sorry about that. I'm sure you've got a lot of memories you'd rather forget.”
“Fortunately,” she replied, smiling at Paul, “being with you guys makes it a lot easier not to think about my past.”
“Not to stay on a sore subject,” Joey said thoughtfully, “but, that seems just a tad ironic. Who would name a vampiress after the dawn?”
“She wasn't always a vampire,” Myra said, turning to look at the wizard. “She was born a sorceress, though. Lord and Lady Telraen had a habit of acquiring children they thought might prove useful in the future. Those that did were turned into undead. Those that didn't...”
Here, the maiden trailed off, staring silently into the distance.
“None of that matters now,” Nyssa asserted, fluttering up to the former lich's fair face. “Who knows how many children we rescued from the undead just yesterday?”
“Thousands,” Alena said, offering Myra a gentle smile. “We didn't just rescue them from the immediate danger, either. For the first time in their lives, they've been able to go to sleep without fear. For them, it almost has to be like living in the heavens.”
“You're right,” Myra nodded as a slight smile forced its way onto her lips. “In fact, it's a lot like that for me, as well.”
“Me, too,” Paul said, gazing into her eyes and taking her hand in his own.
“Change of subject?” Joey asked with a rising inflection.
“Please,” Myra sighed.
At that moment, their meals arrived. As soon as each of them had their food in front of them, the wizard introduced a new topic.
“Now that we're here – wherever here is –,” he said, “what are our plans?”
“To get some rest,” Sarrac replied. “We've accomplished a great deal over the past few weeks, but it's been fairly exhausting. At least, I'm exhausted.”
Each of the party members immediately agreed that they had also had enough of the nonstop toil.
“We have four more days before the runes recharge,” the ogre continued. “We should be perfectly safe during that time and we'll likely have plenty to do once we can move the fortress again. So, we need to leap on the opportunity and relax a little.”
“Very little,” Alena replied with a good bit of emphasis. “There's a great deal of work to be done here. We lost a lot of Warriors in that battle, but we got an even higher number of volunteers after it. We need to start working to train them as soon as possible.”
“What do you mean?” Paul asked.
“I mean: not every able-bodied man in Zanoth is a Warrior of Dawn,” she replied. “Probably not more than one in ten of the men of Parmoor was a Warrior.”
“One in ten?” Joey asked. “That seems like a really high percentage of the population.”
“I never thought so,” the ogress said. “I always thought it should have been closer to ten in ten.”
“Not everyone is willing to risk their life for what they believe to be a hopeless cause,” Darek observed.
“Hardly hopeless,” the ogress replied.
“I agree with you,” Darek nodded. “As do most of the Warriors. It's not them we're talking about, though. It's the general populace. Up until recently, becoming a Warrior seemed like a really good way to get yourself tortured to death, but not a very effective way to help Zanoth.”
“That was exactly my point,” Joey explained. “What would convince so many people to join the Warriors when there was so little they could hope to actually accomplish?”
“Hatred of the undead,” Darek replied.
“And, we've accomplished quite a bit over the centuries,” Alena asserted. “The order has destroyed countless sleeping legionaries...”
“Which Grathis has likely taken notice of by now,” Myra interjected.
“The order has discovered and explored a number of different places mentioned in the prophecies,” the ogress continued, “slaughtered the undead wherever and whenever we could, and even summoned the it into Zanoth.”
“We've also done a great deal on a smaller scale,” Sarrac added. “We've saved people – at least temporarily – from the harvests whenever we could, we've dealt with particularly cruel captains and commanders, and we've offered the people a sense of hope – let them know that they're not alone.”
“Which makes me wonder why the undead haven't stamped them out by now,” Joey replied.
“Experience,” Myra said. “When the order was first founded, a number of undead lords rooted out every member they could find in their lands and publicly executed them. The result wasn't what they'd expected. It snuffed out the only smoldering wick of hope the living had left. The birth rate dropped to almost zero – in spite of the lords doing everything they could think of to persuade the people to increase the population – and they ended up having to deal with flash rebellions. Entire cites would revolt and fight to the death trying to win back their lives.
“Ironically, the lords that ignored the Warriors had far fewer problems. When people have hope for a brighter future, they're far more willing to have children. When they believe that they'll be free someday, they're more willing to endure their shackles for the time being.
“Grathis had a policy of only ever killing Warriors that got themselves caught doing something stupid...”
“Like me,” Darek smiled.
“Or if they seemed likely to successfully start a rebellion anywhere,” she continued. “We made it look as if we did our best to get information, but we rarely did. The simple truth was that, until recently, the Warriors were absolutely no threat to more powerful undead. Without the weapons we've managed to arm them with, Grathis could have killed every Warrior in Parmoor all by himself.
“It made a lot more sense to let the Warriors kill a few meaningless soldiers than to suppress them and have the population decide it preferred death to living under tyranny.”
“So, Grathis was never really trying to stop us?” Alena asked, raising a single eyebrow.
“Not as such,” Myra replied. “You were very useful to him doing what you were doing. On the other hand, he – not to mention Lord and Lady Telraen – would have certainly executed you had you been caught wandering around in the dark lands n
ear the Tower of Daelfaun. In his opinion, that would have constituted doing something stupid to get yourself killed.”
“I wonder how he feels about that policy now?” the ogress smiled.
“You can be sure he regrets not taking the Warriors more seriously,” she replied. “But, honestly, he had no way of knowing that he should. I always thought the prophecies were nonsense – and I was rather open-minded about things like that compared to a lot of undead. Plus, of course, most of the Warriors never do anything other than join the order and talk a lot. How many actually ran around the countryside fighting the undead like you did?”
“Few enough,” Alena nodded.
“Which raises another question,” Paul said. “How do the Warriors know how to fight as well as they do?”
“Okay,” the lich nodded, “that's another thing most of them do: they practice fighting a lot.”
“The undead allow that?” the paladin asked.
“Why wouldn't they?” Myra chuckled. “There are a lot of things that can kill the living in Zanoth; roaming undead, wild animals, or even bandits.”
“Bandits,” Joey asked with a smile. “We've never run into any bandits.”
“No,” she agreed. “Grathis is really good about that. In fact, Mal’Creal is one of the safer lands for the living to travel in. He felt it helped maintain good population growth – which it did.”
“So, the living are allowed to learn to fight to defend themselves?” the paladin asked.
“Of course,” she nodded. “You have to keep in mind, Paul, that the living have been absolutely no threat to the dead for hundreds of years. Grathis has never been afraid of them in the least.”
“I bet he is now,” the ogress speculated.
“Maybe,” Myra replied. “But, that may make him even more dangerous.”
“Either way,” Darek said, “the point is that we now have a lot of new recruits who don't know how to fight nearly as well as the men we lost did.”
“Exactly,” Alena replied. “Which is why we have to start training them as soon as possible.”
“General Halfar said some of the former guards of Parmoor want to join the order,” Sarrac said.
“Too bad,” the ogress replied, shaking her head. “They made their choice. They should thank the gods of light that we didn't just leave them behind.”
“Some of them may have preferred that,” Darek asserted.
“They know how to fight,” the ogre pointed out.
“Yes, they do,” the ogress agreed. “They learned how to do that by working for our enemies.”
“This is why Mark wanted me to mention it to you rather than him.”
“Why is that, exactly?” Alena asked, turning her gaze to the ogre.
“He knows how good I am at completely dominating your will,” the ogre smiled.
“You think talking like that is going to convince me?” she asked with half a chuckle.
“Nope,” he replied, shaking his head. “I think reason is going to convince you. But, we can talk about that later. Before we do, I want to talk to them.”
“I guess it'll give you something to do while I'm training men we can actually trust.”
“I agree,” he nodded. “It will.”
After this observation, the conversation turned to the quality of the food – which was excellent – and what was currently being done inside the fortress – which was a great deal. As soon as the meal was complete, the party headed back toward the keep together. After a brief discussion, Alena was persuaded that the band could afford to take the remainder of the day off. That's exactly what they did.
The entire band wandered through the confines of the fortress. They watched as farmers planted crops, as carpenters worked away at erecting new structures, as blacksmiths sharpened weapons and repaired armor, and as other various craftsmen plied their trades as best they could.
One of these caught the paladin's attention. It was the goldsmith. He was standing at the side of a small table, just beyond the flap of his temporarily humble home, and doing a great deal of business. Apparently, the new citizens of Donmar were nearly ecstatic about their good fortune and were in the mood both to give and receive gifts. For his part, Paul was in the mood to buy an engagement ring. He just needed to get a few minutes alone so that he could. As it happened, he didn't get those minutes during the rest of the day. The band spent every moment of their brief break together.
After breakfast the following morning, however, they went their separate ways. Alena and Darek set out to organize the new recruits and begin their training. Sarrac made his way to the prison to speak with the former soldiers of Parmoor. Joey headed for the library, where he planned to do a bit of studying. Myra went to the throne room to do a little more work with the runes and the coordinates system the fortress used. Nyssa decided to renew her search for the ballroom, which she seemed to think might be hiding in the woods near the village.
The moment the last of his companions left the table, Paul made a beeline for the goldsmith. Even at that early hour, his stall was surrounded by patrons. Once they realized that the it had some business to attend to, however, the paladin was pushed to the head of the line.
“How can I be of service to the mighty it?” the goldsmith asked with a slight bow.
“Call me Paul,” the paladin replied.
“You honor me, it.”
“Paul,” the young man repeated.
“As you wish, Paul,” the man said with a wide smile. “I'm called Telken.”
“Glad to know you,” he replied, offering the merchant his hand. “What have you got in the way of rings?”
“I probably have the best selection in all of Zanoth,” Telken assured him. “At least, for a man doing business out of a tent, I do. What did you have in mind?”
“I'm looking for a...” he said before pausing to clear his throat. “For an engagement ring, actually. I was thinking like a gold band studded with diamonds, maybe.”
“Diamonds?” the merchant asked with a slightly rising inflection. “For an engagement ring?”
“That's what I was thinking.”
“Does the young lady like diamonds?”
“Hmmm,” Paul hummed. “I'm not actually sure.”
“In that case,” the goldsmith said, “you might want to go with something a little less unusual. After all, diamonds are a little plain, aren't they? Come to that, gold is a tad common when one is declaring their undying love. At least, I feel such would be the case for someone in your situation. Of course, the lady is always right, and if she prefers...”
“To be honest,” the paladin interjected, “I have no idea what she prefers. What would you suggest?”
“Rubies, representing the heart, set in platinum, representing incorruptible purity, would be considered more traditional for someone of your rank.”
“Would it?” Paul replied with a thoughtful tone. “I guess I can see rubies and platinum working well together. I don't know, though. What about sapphires? They would go with her eyes.”
“They're occasionally used in engagement rings,” Telken said with a shrug, “as sapphires represent the heavens, but personally, I've always found that a little pretentious. Of course, when in doubt, there's a rule of thumb I highly recommend: ask the young lady what she prefers.”
“That would spoil the surprise,” the paladin pointed out. “Plus, I really don't think she's the kind of girl that would make a fuss about it one way or the other.”
“If that's the case,” the merchant smiled, “you're a fortunate young man.”
“If she says yes, I will be,” Paul nodded.
“What's her ring size?” Telken asked.
“I have absolutely no idea,” Paul admitted.
“Without knowing that, we can't be sure that it will fit. Of course, I can always alter it after you've given it to her.”
“I'd rather not have to do that. Maybe I can come up with a way to find out what it is without her knowing.”
“You might also want to find out how she feels about sapphires while you're at it.”
“That's a good point,” Paul nodded.
“In the meantime,” the goldsmith said, pulling a case from beneath the table, “you can at least decide on a design.”
After being shown numerous rings – and even more sketches of rings – the young man selected a simple band studded with stones. All he had to do now was inconspicuously get Myra into a conversation about gemstones and figure out the size of her ring finger. Well, that and acquire a little money.
Telken had offered to make the ring for him free of charge, but Paul didn't feel comfortable accepting a gem-covered platinum ring – especially an engagement ring – as a gift from a relative stranger. He was also fairly certain that he could lay claim to some small portion of all the precious swag they had managed to capture since he got to Zanoth. He would have to ask Darek about it. Darek always seemed to have plenty of money.
Having done what he could for the moment, Paul set out in search of the fair former lich. He found her sitting on the floor of the throne room of the keep with quite a few papers spread out in front of her. For several minutes, he stood staring at her in silence, simply soaking in her loveliness. At last, he spoke. This resulted in her asking him to please be quiet, however. After a few more minutes of watching her work in perfect tranquility, he gave up.
From the throne room, he headed for the library. He found Joey sitting at a table, surrounded by tomes on each side, with a truly massive volume opened before him. The paladin put a number of questions to the wizard, which were all answered in various intonations of Mmmm. Having completely failed to engage his friend's attention, he gave up for a second time.
He decided to track down Alena and Darek, as they would probably not only be willing to speak to him, but might actually be able to use his help. Along the way, he encountered the fairy fluttering slowly along the trail that was quickly being beaten between the keep and the village.
“Be careful where you step,” she said as he approached, turning her attention momentarily to him before shifting her gaze back to the ground.
The Shrine of Kallen (The Tales of Zanoth Book 3) Page 25