Dark One Rising

by Leandra Martin

  “I gather, since you have managed to keep yourself hidden all these months. You must have realized we’d find you eventually.”

  She knew now who he worked for and was no longer just paranoid. She knew she was in trouble. He was the only one, but she wasn’t naïve enough to think that there weren’t any others waiting to strike. She tried to go around him, but he anticipated her move. He leaned over and grabbed her arm.

  “You’ve had your little vacation, but now it’s time to go home where you belong. Your family misses you, and your fiancé will be relieved to know you’re alright.”

  “I’ll bet.” She stood up in her saddle, and, removing one foot from the stirrup, kicked her foot out and up as hard as she could and caught him in the chin. As his head was coming back down from its flown back position, she knew she had only seconds to move. She kicked her heels into her mount and took off down the cobbled street. Her mount was unsteady on her hooves but kept her balance. She rounded a corner where two more guards were waiting. She pulled back on the reins so hard her horse reared, kicking one of the guard’s horses in the mouth. That horse threw his head, and the guard had to take a few minutes to get his control back. She tried to steer around the other man, but he was ready for her, and she couldn’t squeeze by him. He was too close to the wall of the building for her to fit. He reached over and grabbed her reins, trying to get the mare to succumb to his pulling. She reached down into her boot and pulled out a small knife that she’d swiped from the armory. She leaned forward and sliced the guard across his arm where his flesh peeked from the sleeves of his gambeson. He pulled his arm back in pain, but instead of him letting go of the reins so she could get away, he got mad and pulled harder. She took another try. She had to be quick because his companion was regaining his control and would be ready for her. She thrust the knife out and up and caught him again, this time under the chin. The guard could not keep control this time. He let go of the reins and grabbed his throat, trying desperately to keep the blood from running down his neck. It was no use. The blood was flowing fast now, running through his fingers and down his neck, soaking into the leather of his gambeson. The other man was on her fast. He was larger than his companion, and stronger. He grabbed the reins and pulled so hard her face and his were practically touching. She tried to lift the knife high enough to catch him in the neck as well, but he was ready for it. He grabbed her wrist and twisted hard. Her grip on the knife was loosening. He wriggled it out of her hand and held it to her throat now.

  “Let’s just stop all this trouble and come with me nice and quiet like.”

  “Never!” She spat on him.

  He wiped the spittle from his face with his free hand and growled at her, “I should show you how a woman should behave. You would make a nice addition to my household. All spit fire and feistiness. Or maybe I should take my pleasure of you now and be done with it.” He shifted in the saddle as if trying to ease the pressure from between his legs.

  “I don’t think Fallon would look to kindly on you despoiling his prize possession.”

  The man noticeably shifted now in nervousness at that realization, swallowing absentmindedly. He held on tighter, but she fought hard. He yelled at her, “Enough! Let’s go!”

  He yanked one more time and this time pulled her out of her saddle. Holding her by her blouse, he backhanded her across the face. She felt a warm trickle run down her lip. She slipped to the cobbled street, slumping on the hard surface. He dismounted and reached down, grabbing her by the front of her blouse again. She heard it tear under his grip but couldn’t move. She was dazed from the blow and was trying hard to get her wits about her.

  He lifted her off the ground and was just about to lift her and himself into the saddle when his grip loosened, and he slumped forward on top of her in a heap. His heavy body was crushing her. She slipped out from underneath him and pushed him away. There was an arrow sticking out of his back. She looked over to the other man she had grappled with earlier. He was lying on the ground now as well, blood pooling under him from the slice to the neck. She was breathing hard and stood from the ground, reaching for the reins of her horse. Galloping footsteps came from around the corner. The guard that had accosted her first was coming toward her. An arrow whistled by her and hit the man square in the throat, tossing him backward in his saddle to the cobbled street. His horse galloped away. She looked around and saw a man riding toward her, his face hooded from view, carrying a bow. A quiver of arrows was slung across his back and a sword hung from a scabbard at his side. He was riding a beautiful all white horse, and as he approached, she could now see his eyes from under the hood.

  He kept his vigilance for a moment or two, then stopped his horse in front of her, pulling back his hood. The man was young, or so he looked, with flawless pale skin, and green round eyes. His long deep shiny black hair was pulled back with a simple tie, and his clothes were made from a homespun material in green and tan colors. He wore brown riding boots and had no adornments of any kind. She would’ve thought him ordinary had it not been for the lobeless pointed ears. He was an elf. An elf away from Vallis, inside the cities of the kingdom. He looked down on her with a steady gaze, then put his bow away on his back with his quiver. She stared up at him in surprise but said nothing. She was holding together the torn pieces of her blouse and did not speak to him.

  She pulled her gaze away from his when she heard horse clops coming from around the far corner. Another man came into view, this one older, carrying no weapons at all. He approached them both and smiled down at her, her lip still trickling blood down her chin. She reached up and wiped away the blood

  “That’s all of them. The other two won’t be waking anytime soon, but when they do, they’ll find themselves cold and damp in the city dungeon, I reckon. I have filed a report with the Constable. There will be someone coming to clean up the mess in short order. I suggest we be on our way and through the gates before they do. I put a spell on him so that he wouldn’t ask too many questions, but it will eventually wear off. We would do well to be on our way before it does.”

  She stared at him but didn’t move. He smiled at her again. “It’s lucky we happened to come along, Princess, or you’d be in the hands of Fallon right now.”

  “Who are you?”

  He climbed down off his mount and bowed to her, the belled sleeves of his robe almost touching the ground.

  “I’m Sol, magician and map maker.”

  “The Sol? The magician who it’s said lived over a hundred years ago?”

  “Yes, well, I age more graceful than most I guess.” He hid an amused smile, then cleared his throat and motioned to the elf still sitting on his horse. “My companion is Tomaz Faolin, High Warrior of Vallis.”

  The elf bowed in his saddle to her. “We finally meet after all these years, Princess. It is an honor to be in your presence once again.”

  She was confused and looked over at Sol again, questioning in her eyes. “We’ll discuss things in more detail a bit later. Right now, I think it’s best we get you back to Drydon Keep before the king puts out a bounty for you. And you know Alek, he always gets his man.. or woman as the case may be.” He chuckled to himself.

  She surprisingly hadn’t really thought about Dain for a while. She winced. He would be very angry with her for leaving without telling him, and without escort. He’d really be furious after he found out what happened here.

  She felt guilty. She loved him, and she knew that he at least cared about her and genuinely didn’t want anything to happen to her. She should’ve been more aware of the effect of what her rash decision might have on others, Dain and Kevaan especially.

  She tried to mount her horse with one hand, while grasping her torn blouse closed with the other. She wasn’t embarrassed but was a bit uncomfortable with being exposed. She stopped trying to climb up and, instead, wrapped her arms about herself to cover her naked chest.

  The elf dismounted and pulled a woolen cloak and rope out of his bag and handed it to her.
She pulled it around herself and tied the rope in a knot.

  She got on her horse, and the magician followed. They turned toward the gates, the elf leading. He had covered his ears back up with his hood, and they sauntered past the remaining buildings on the outskirts of the city.

  They went out the gate without incident, Melenthia suspecting that the magician had something to do with the fact that no one paid them any mind at all. Much less the fact that no one had stopped them to question them about the dead bodies left on their city streets.

  As they left the city gates behind and approached the edge of some woods, the elf reined in his mount and waited for her to catch up. He dismounted and untied the pack that was tethered to the saddle of Sol’s horse. She stopped her horse in front of him; he looked up at her. “Come down and let me have a look at your face.”

  “I’m fine,” she lisped through a swollen lip.

  Sol looked at her now and smiled slightly. “There’s no need for embarrassment here. Let him look at it. It’s worse than you think.”

  She dismounted and approached the elf. He reached out and probed the swollen lip and bruised cheek with surprisingly long and delicate fingers. He pushed a bit, and she winced. “You will have quite a good bruise in the morning, but your lip is going to need some attention if you plan to eat.”

  He pulled a wadded up bunch of cloth out of the bag and opened it. Inside was a blob of something white and creamy, and when she leaned over to look closer, she got a whiff of it. She pulled her head back and cringed.

  “What’s that?” she asked, wrinkling up her nose.

  “It is a salve made from the rotten eggs of the faerie swan. It has healing powers that even the most gifted alchemists cannot duplicate. It smells but works wonders. After a few minutes your lip will get numb, but in a couple of hours the swelling will have gone down and the split will have healed almost completely. It cannot, however, do anything for your cheek. You will have to endure having black and blue on your left side for awhile. It is, however, better than what it could have been.”

  “Thanks to you.”

  “I do what I can, Your Highness.” He bowed to her and then looked straight into her eyes. She felt a warmth there, a soothing presence that emanated off him and made her feel calm.

  He leaned over and rubbed a large dollop of salve on the left side of her mouth. It stung her cut tender lip and gave her a feeling of prickles in it. She tried to purse her lips together in order to keep the salve from going into her mouth. As bad as it smelled, she certainly didn’t want to taste it.

  “Do not worry. It smells bad but has no taste and no ill effects. You can unclench your jaw now. If some of it gets in your mouth you will taste nothing.”

  “Try not to lick your lips though,” Sol added with amusement in his voice. The elf was done applying the cream, and she looked at him.

  “I thought he said I wouldn’t taste it.”

  “You won’t, but your lip will heal faster if you don’t lick away all the medicinal cream.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. The elf remounted and she followed suit.

  “I suggest we be on our way now. I don’t want to take the chance that there were more than the five. I don’t want to be followed. I have put a concealment spell on us, but it won’t hide us from all the eyes.”

  “Do you think they know where I’m hiding?”

  “They know you’re on this side of the kingdom, but exactly your whereabouts I don’t know. If it was only those five, we may be lucky and word won’t travel. But, if he has more spies, then I don’t doubt that he’ll know sooner than later.”

  “Is Dain in any danger?”

  “Dain is skilled in warfare. He’ll be fine.”

  She was not convinced. “I have put everyone I know and love in danger.”

  “Your situation is not of your doing. Fallon has his own agenda and none of that is your fault.”

  “But Dain agreeing to protect me is my fault. I should’ve just stayed away.”

  “Even as skilled of a survivor as you are, you wouldn’t have lasted out here alone forever. Eventually he would’ve found you, and there would’ve been no one around to stop him.”

  “But I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else.”

  “Dain knows the risks and understands that there is more at stake than just a marriage. He knows that his kingdom will eventually be at risk, and, as king, he can’t turn away from that. That part has nothing to do with you.”

  She was quiet. Her lip was numb now. All she could feel was a very light tingling there. She reached up to touch it just to make sure it was still there since she could no longer feel it. She touched her cheek too and winced. It was very tender to the touch. She opened and shut her mouth and shifted it back and forth to stretch it. It was starting to get stiff and sore, on top of the pain.

  “Sol, I think now would be a good time to send word to the border and let them know that the princess is fine and on her way.”

  “Oh yes, right.”

  The magician reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. He unfolded it and held it in his hand. He looked at it, closed his eyes, and mumbled something under his breath. She leaned a bit in her saddle so she could see and was surprised when words appeared there.

  He opened his eyes and spoke a series of words that sounded like gibberish to her ear. A bird appeared as if from nowhere. It landed on the pommel of his saddle. He rolled up the parchment, wiggled his fingers, and a piece of twine appeared and tied itself around the note. He tied it to the birds leg and whistled. The bird took off and flew toward the keep.

  She stared at him in awe. He felt her looking at him and turned his head to face her. “How else did you think I was going to tell them we were coming, by telepathy? That would be preposterous.”

  She said nothing, the elf just smiled. They continued on their way, the clip-clopping of the horses hooves on the road and the crunching of rocks and dirt clods underneath lulled her. She didn’t feel the pain in her lip even though the numbness was starting to subside, and she was feeling very weary. Her eyelids were heavy, and she wanted to sleep, and a couple of times caught herself when she felt she was slipping sideways out of the saddle.

  They passed by the outer gate and were waved on without pause. She knew that the elf and the magician knew more about her situation than they were letting on. She wanted to ask more questions but was too tired to wrap her mind around anything intelligent she wanted to say, so she continued to be silent. She would have plenty of time to ask them questions after she got some sleep.

  The sun was a couple of hours above the horizon, and she tried to remember when she ate last. It had been at least six hours ago when she bought a roll and some dried meat from the merchant in the square. She wasn’t as hungry as she thought she would be. Maybe it was because she’d been too scared to think about anything but getting away at all costs. In fact, even now, her stomach was so queasy, she felt she wouldn’t be able to eat anything until morning.

  An hour later she could see the gates to the keep in the distance. Her stomach was now more in knots, and she dreaded what was to come. She knew Dain would be mad, but she had no idea what to expect from him, and right now she was too relieved to be back and too tired to care.

  They picked up their pace, trotting up the hill toward the keep. Even though it was not dark yet, the lamps were being lit as they approached as if offering a beacon for their safe return. She felt relieved and anxious at the same time. She promised herself that no matter what happened, she would never disobey him again. She loved him too much to cause him undue distress.

  CHAPTER 25

  When Dain got back to the Keep that evening, he spent twenty minutes looking for Melenthia, to let her know he had returned. When he didn’t find her, he called for Emerick. While he was waiting, a squire appeared in his office and bowed, entering the room when he was motioned to do so.

  “Your Majesty, this message was brought by dispatch from Tarun.
It came to them from the dwarves, Sire.”

  “Bring it forward.”

  The squire obeyed and handed the king a piece of parchment rolled and stamped with the wax seal of the house of the Dolmath Tribe. He quickly broke the seal and rolled out the message to read it.

  “Your Majesty, King Dainard Llewelyn Grayson, High Ruler of Azlyn, son of the late King Colwyn Grayson, Drydon Keep.

  I bring message from the clan leaders of the dwarves Daiki Tribes in Yarden, from Clan Leader of the house of Dolmath, Dagon.

  We have received your dire message, brought from Tarun with the men, led by Brogan. The council convened three days ago and discussed breaking our covenant of non-allegiance and giving aid to His Majesty and the province of Azlyn.

  After much debate, we have decided that the situation is grave, and we as a group, even though far from the general populace, and the strife of man, cannot turn our backs on what is to come.

  We the dwarves, although a very proud people, have decided that if we are to protect what is ours, namely our heritage, our families, and our future, we must this once ban together and stand with you and His Majesty, King Randor Breslin, for the good of all.

  We will prepare ourselves and be at the ready when the time comes for us to fight. I have sent patrols into the lower reaches of the Danstroms in order to keep watch on the movements of Fallon’s troops and the giants in his ranks. I will be informed if anything changes.

  Brogan and his men are on their way down from the city, having to wait out a terrible storm that blew through upon their arrival. They should reach the city limits within a week or two from you receiving this message.

  I, as well as the other clan leaders, pledge ourselves to you and the cause of ridding this kingdom of the plague that has begun to poison it.

  I shall be on my way to you as well, as soon as I situate my orders and help prepare the city for war. My troops will be ready when the call comes.

  Please extend my allegiance to King Randor and his guard. The dwarves will stand with you both.