The man stepped in front of him. 'You not hear me before? you'll get gutted for impersonating an officer.'
Thom ignored him, looking straight ahead at the young officer. 'What was the General's name? Out with it boy!'
The youth snapped to attention at the sound of Thom's voice, the man blocking his path seemed taken aback that this slave had such an authoritative tone. Gadtor knew better, a Warden rarely needs to ask twice for anything no matter the circumstance.
'General Garth sir, he's new around these parts and is looking to rebuild the chain of command.'
Gadtor thought he saw a crooked smile on Thom's face for the first time since he'd known the man. Had he some previous affiliation with this General?
'You may take me to your General then, as technically I outrank him.'
There was something in the way Thom said it, with such assuredness and steel that the man previously blocking his way stepped away, eyes bulging in surprise. Gadtor blinked in disbelief, was he calling the General's bluff or telling the truth?
'Sir I am required to ask your name so that I may report back to the General of your impending arrival.'
'I am Thom.'
The boy's face paled. 'General Thom? The General Thom of Sultcher's pass?'
Thom waved his hand dismissively. 'That was a long time ago, just take me to Garth.'
The man he was attached to was a General?
Thom noticed the look on Gadtor's face and smiled at him. 'You just received a stay of execution.'
98
Jimmy
The guard had taken him away from C-Company's most pointless task, sweeping the corridors of the fort so that they were clean of sand. Had it been any other distraction from the labour he would have been overjoyed, unfortunately he was being taken to see Corporal Dyson.
He had been warned by his fellow members of C-Company that should he be taken by the guards anywhere not to stay a word, no matter what they did to you. This sent a shiver down his spine, he was waiting for the man to turn around and force himself upon him. If the guard had this in mind he showed no inclination of it, as far as he was concerned Jimmy was beneath acknowledgement beyond ferrying him to Dyson's door and back. A great number of C-Company were treated that way, it was actually much better than the beatings for sport and general contempt other guards would show them.
They wound their way down all-too-familiar corridors now, Jimmy had been forced to scrub these clean of sand any number of times, he knew the layout of the fortress by heart.
The guard gave the customary peculiar knock on the door, it differed yet again from Yalem's and Jadil's, both of whom seemed to alternate knocks over time to prevent any unwanted visitors into Dyson's office. The door of which swung open to reveal an impossible sight.
It couldn't be.
Sat in the chair opposite Dyson was his father, he'd come to rescue him.
'Father!' he exclaimed, starting to move forward. 'You came for me!'
Gooseman didn't turn as the guard's fist halted Jimmy in his tracks.
Dyson continued to look at Gooseman as Jimmy raised himself to his hands and knees, confused and bleeding.
'The boy is well enough, you want him to be my personal assistant in exchange for the release of the prisoner into your custody. You also strictly want no harm to come of him after the transaction has occurred. You mentioned nothing of harm prior to the transaction, did you?'
Gooseman shook his head. 'I don't recall saying as much, no.'
At Dyson's bidding, the guard sank a boot into Jimmy's sternum, causing him to curl up onto the floor.
'Excellent, this one has been most irritating in his time with us, I'd have hoped that would change given the gravity of his circumstances but it seems some things simply need beaten out.'
The guard continued to relentlessly pummel Jimmy as he lay crying on the wood, fists and arms flying at the parts of his body he left unprotected after each strike.
'When will your guard return with the boy?' Gooseman asked lightly, as if he were enquiring to his host about a beverage.
'Soon enough,' Dyson replied. 'Jadil is an experienced soldier and will follow his orders, your goods will not be harmed.'
Jimmy let out a scream as one of his ribs seemed to buckle under a savage kick.
'I have felt exposed in Yalem's absence, he is a vengeful sort. Your timing is most fortuitous as he would have undoubtedly sought retaliatory action somehow. I doubt very much that your arrival is coincidental.'
Gooseman nodded. 'I am not a believer in coincidence, Corporal. We are the architects of our own destiny, I don't subscribe to the whimsical belief that the world we live in is full of random acts.'
The next boot rattled Jimmy's skull, his vision started to blur. He couldn't tell if it was tears or blood or impending unconsciousness causing it.
'Every action serves a purpose and every event has a meaning. Others would be wise to learn such a lesson.'
A knock came on the door and the guard ceased pummelling him.
They waited in the silence, the knock came again.
'Enter,' Dyson called, seemingly satisfied that Jadil had returned.
The guard entered with Jakob in tow, who looked down at Jimmy with an expression of shock on his face, then at Gooseman with an even darker look in his eyes. Clearly he'd realised that the father had let the son be beaten to such a sorry state. Jimmy just hoped that the beating had stopped now that his friend was here.
Jakob looked at Dyson in askance. 'Why have you summoned me here?'
Dyson stood, clearly not liking being looked down upon or asked questions in his own office. 'You are familiar with Harold Gooseman, he has convinced me to release you into his custody. You are no longer a member of A-Company and will be leaving with this man immediately.'
Jimmy watched Jakob look down at him then. 'What about the boy?'
The Corporal took a calming breath, his face starting to flush in anger. 'The boy will stay in Greyhawk, his father has accepted assurances that he will be treated fairly.'
He failed to see how he was treated fairly by being beaten on the floor.
'Very well, we may depart.'
It hit Jimmy harder than the blows he had sustained already, first the rejection from his father and now the rejection from Jakob.
A fourth knock came on the door, Yalem limped in before Dyson could respond.
'Can't find him,' he reported to the increasingly furious Corporal.
'What the fuck do you mean you can't find him? Who let you out of bed anyway?'
Yalem snorted in response, it seemed the large man wasn't planning on being kept down for long.
Jadil chipped in at this point, clearly trying to soothe Dyson's rising temper. 'I sent man looking for him but the guard Captain said he do it himself. I say no but he rejected.'
Gooseman sighed, looking around the increasingly crowded room. 'It seems that whatever rogue talent was once here has been alerted to my presence and subsequently vanished. It is of no consequence in the grander scheme of things, I have what I came for and I shall be departing now. Excuse me gentlemen.'
He rose from his seat and walked toward the door, his eyes firmly on his destination.
'Father, please!' Jimmy pleaded.
The man walked past him as if he didn't exist, Jakob gave Jimmy one last pitying look and followed him.
Jimmy watched the door close behind them, his father had disowned him, Jakob was gone and The Hermit had vanished. Now he truly was all alone.
99
Ella
He returned that evening, covered in blood.
She had just extinguished the bedside candle when she heard a scuffling sound coming from the archway, his staggering form silhouetted in the moonlight like some dancer lurching from grace to spasm out of control.
He tried to ward her off as she came to him, mumbling something in a language she didn't understand. The blood clung to him stubbornly, it had dried into a second skin on his journey back to L
evanin.
'What happened to you?' she asked him, not expecting a coherent answer given his condition. 'We need to get you to a healer.' She had no idea where the nearest healer was.
'I will recover,' he mumbled. She barely caught it under his breath as she was dragged toward the bed with him.
They lay there for some time, his breathing was ragged but over the course of the night it strengthened. She eventually built up the courage to light the candle and survey the extent of his injuries as best she could.
He was still conscious, his eyes wide open and staring up at the ceiling as if in deep concentration, what inspiration he found there Ella could not tell.
She couldn't understand what possible situation El-Vador could face that would leave him in such a mess. His ribs were cracked or broken, though none of them seemed to have punctured a lung. She tried to remove his shirt but the caked blood had acted as an adhesive. She'd have to cut him loose in order to get a closer look and she didn't trust herself with his sword.
A large gash on his thigh extended down toward his knee as if something had been hacking wildly at him and he had barely dodged its intent. Whatever way she looked at it, her idea of El-Vador's near-omnipotence had been brutally extinguished.
He coughed then as he drew a deeper breath in, she brought a pitcher of water up to his lips but he seemed uninterested in drinking.
'Chance encounters can be most humbling,' he said in a cracked voice. 'They make fools out of us all sometimes.'
She was still none the wiser as to what he was talking about, for all she could glean from it he may as well have been delirious and she didn't want to push him to answer in this state.
'He blind-sided me as I hunted, a very old grudge. He hasn't changed in all these years, as barbaric as ever.'
Ella couldn't help herself. 'Who?'
He turned his head painfully with a grimace, then looked at her with those strangely focused eyes. Was that sadness she saw in them or regret?
'I cannot tell even you. So tired, so weary.'
She found herself reaching out to him, stroking his hair tentatively as if it might cause him to jump. 'He attacked you, but you fought back. He won't come to Levanin in pursuit of you, will he?'
The shadows seemed to lengthen in the flickering candlelight, if there was someone out there who could wound El-Vador, what was stopping him from breaching Upper Levanin?
'No, he will not pursue me. You cannot attack him, you defend and run but you cannot attack.'
'You're keeping me out, why won't you tell me about him?' Ella asked, frustration beginning to grow at his vague answers to her questions. She mentally chastised herself for even asking him questions in the first place, what right had she to know of the truth as he lay bleeding there?
'I am sworn.' El-Vador replied. 'To an oath I cannot break.' He looked up at her face, raising a bloodied hand and cupping her chin. 'Do not worry, I will be well in the morning.'
They lay silently for a time then, Ella listening carefully to his breathing and wondering whether he was trying to reassure her or if he was telling her the truth.
After a time he spoke again, his voice somewhat stronger than before. 'There is something else I have kept from you that I must tell you.'
She listened closely, not stirring least she disrupt his chain of thought.
'You asked me why I wouldn't tell you my reasons for having brought you here, why you of all people were selected to accompany me.'
She nodded silently.
'I do not know how or why, but you are a kindred soul. One such as I have not seen in many years.'
That was it? That was the reason he'd been keeping secret all this time?
'Thank you,' she said quietly, knowing that voicing her disappointment now would be dangerous.
'You do not understand, Ella. I will try and make it as clear as I can. I am Elven, you are a kindred soul. You are also Elven, Ella. I do not know how.'
Time froze. She was conscious of lying in the bed, she even remembered rising to the side of it and watching her feet idly dangle off the edge. She didn't remember what she said next.
'No, you cannot be.'
She blinked. 'What do you mean?'
El-Vador remained silent, Ella sensed that she had missed something vital. She had never heard him speak with greater regret, it seemed to span ages when uttered from his lips.
It was strange, lying there in bed next to a creature of impossible power that had by chance encountered another power even beyond that. It didn't feel wrong. She should have been overwhelmed by the possibility that such a godhead could exist, she should have been blown away by the revelation of her lack of humanity. The latter made sense to her, she was always distant and different from the Escana populace without having any explanation as to why.
As for the power of El-Vador, she had always conceived of such force through the reading of his travels, she had already believed such a thing was possible even if it wasn't apparent in every day life.
In the midst of all her worries and concerns over El-Vador, the thought of her own identity sounded within her. She was Elven.
100
Jakob
He watched the back of the older man's head as the murderous tendencies rose in him once more. There was something just short of a voice screaming at him to do away with Gooseman, in spite of him being his only way out of Sah'kel short of death. Was this an opportunity he was meant to take? If so, why did the incessant feeling that he must do away with the man persist so counter-intuitively to the potential suggestion?
They walked unopposed through the corridors of the fort, the guards that they did meet showed a surprising amount of deference to Gooseman. What was this man doing here in the first place?
He had long suspected that the simple innkeeper was nothing but a weak façade, the seemingly irrational feelings that he had stirred in him upon their meeting hinted at that. It was only now that he truly realised what the insistent feelings implied, they were the will of the stranger guiding his hand. It was a direction that he had to follow.
His head ached once again at the thoughts he wasn't supposed to ruminate on. He had grown accustomed to having his mind forced in certain directions these days, residing in A-Company gave him plenty of time to think.
They crossed the floor to where the exit gate stood, this was one area of the fort that Dyson had given up on keeping clear of the desert sands.
'We will be travelling through a warp gate,' Gooseman finally said. 'The sensation will not be pleasant, I suggest you brace yourself.'
Jakob felt a tightening in his head as the small door embedded in the gate swung open, they stepped out into the open desert but the feeling persisted. Was this the start of the warp gate that Gooseman spoke of? What was a warp gate in the first place?
It started to intensify, his temples beginning to feel squeezed as if in some invisible vice. Gooseman rubbed at the sides of his head in irritation or ritual, Jakob wasn't sure which.
A thunderclap echoed around the desert, yet the faint wisps of cloud that he saw couldn't have made that noise.
The pressure developed into a mild stinging sensation, he refused to ask this strange man what he was doing to him as he knew he wouldn't get an answer. The urge to kill him and end this vied with his knowledge that doing so would leave him trapped in Greyhawk for the rest of his life.
'I know what you're thinking,' Gooseman said between clenched teeth. 'I assure you, this is not my doing. Now hurry closer to me, we need to leave this place before it gets any worse.'
Jakob had no idea what the man was talking about and frankly didn't trust his assurances in the slightest, he did as he was bid though in the hopes that it would somehow ease the suffering.
'We are too late.' Gooseman whispered, seemingly to himself.
A tearing noise rent the air ahead of them and hit them with the force of a gale, Gooseman staggered and Jakob was driven to his knees. The screaming in his head collapsed his every though
t, he felt like each part of his brain was being cooked and squashed with relentless pressure.
A small dot of white light appeared ahead of them, there was no rushing of air or sound made from the desert. It was all inside his own mind, which appeared to be flipping over and over in his skull in some desperate attempt to avoid the pain ravaging it.
The white light widened as Gooseman staggered back, still somehow on his feet despite the intentions of the mind storm. It grew to the size of a man, then Gooseman signalled at Jakob to walk toward it.
Jakob didn't see much choice, it was either go into the light and suffer whatever machinations this man had in store or stay here and weather a storm that would undoubtedly render him a drooling invalid. He stepped forward past Gooseman and into the light.
He found that he had stumbled onto a boat, it rocked dangerously under his footing. He looked down and immediately regretted it.
He was teetering on the end of some vast stone structure suspending him high above the surrounding green of the land. He lurched back and fell into the boat, heart in mouth as it stopped rocking at his motion.
The sky was clouded and dark, the land below him seemed green and fertile. Where was he?
A splitting headache took him then, this time his thoughts refused to banish themselves. He felt like something was hatching inside his head and clawing away at the mind he once had. Nothing seemed to be provoking the pain that tore his skull apart, he closed his eyes but couldn't seem to will it away. What was he doing? What was he thinking wrong that it attacked him in such a vigorous manner?
Blackness swam over his vision and he knew no more.
101
Gadtor
In spite of his claimed rank, or possibly because he only claimed to be a General, the soldiers made them limp all the way to the command tent. It wasn't much bigger than the squad tents but had the flag of the Imperium outside. Gadtor wondered what strange mixture of patriotism and stubborn idiocy had them plant a flag in a place with no wind during the day. The limp banner seemed to mirror the mood in the camp, and if Thom was to be believed it also reflected their chances in the upcoming war.
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