Shades Of Glory

by Justin Sloan

  He had heard that name in someone’s mind, he thought. But when? Where? As much as he racked his brain to remember where he’d heard it, no answers came.

  A quick mental send passed the name to Larick, but he didn’t recall either. He sent an image back, though, of a man and a woman, and a flash of shadow and light.

  The image is connected to the name, Larick replied. I wish I knew how.

  We will find the answer. Volney sent back, then went to join the others.

  “If we return without answers, without the shadow mage…” one of them started. Volney saw where that was going, so he quickly interrupted.

  “She won’t be happy, true. But if the mission was to bring her news, we’d better not to linger. Better to bring her an answer.”

  The others turned to him and glared, and for a moment he wondered if he’d gone too far. But the sorcerer who appeared to be in charge finally grunted and said, “The outsider has a point. Damn him.” He shot Volney another glare. “If she has my hide, I’m taking yours as well.”

  Volney nodded. All he needed to do was get close enough to someone with answers, find out when they would be moving and where, and get out of there.

  “Move out,” the sorcerer said, and the others grumbled about more walking, needing a rest, and wanting to find a place to drink and eat. Another guard yelled that the grumblers should be happy to be alive at all.”

  Soon they were on the move, and the one who had yelled came up to Volney, giving him the sort of exhausted nod only comrades shared.

  Tom’s memories told him this was Jon. Such simple names, he thought. They strode onward and the man started talking to him about the ruins back there, speculating on what had happened. That struck him as humorous, since he’d been there for it.

  He was able to delve deeper into this man’s mind, him being conscious and all. Apparently they had served under some king up north, had even been working with some rotten eggs from the Kaldfell Peninsula. It had all fallen apart and now these men were on the run, looking for any group they could serve under.

  “You holding up?” Jon asked, a twitch of his left arm showing what his mind now confirmed—he was missing some sort of drug they had been taking. It was hitting him hard, but he was doing his best not to show it.

  “Barely,” Volney decided to answer, trying to go along with the idea.

  Jon nodded, giving him a woeful smile. “We’ll figure this out. One way or another, we’ll get through it and land on our feet.”

  As they walked on, Volney found himself curious at a new sensation. He was walking alongside a man he knew had issues while pretending to be a man with just as many. He felt a sort of compassion for them.

  Don’t let it stick, Larick sent.

  Stay out of my mind! Volney replied.

  Hey, one of us has to be in there to make sure you don’t start thinking you’re really one of these Barskall chaps, am I right?

  Good point, Volney admitted.

  It was going to be a long journey, and he could use all the help he could get to stay sane.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Though it was hard to tell when daylight came in the caves, Donnon had found himself and some of the others a spot near one of the sinkholes so that they could let the unicorn graze on the grass in there and get some natural light to train in.

  He had them up at sunrise, first to eat a quick breakfast and then to give Kia some training. If she was going to participate in the war, he was going to make sure she was prepared as she could be.

  She grumbled at first, but when her new friend, the boy Lannis, started jumping around with the help of his wind magic, she figured she would give it a shot too. It was amazing to watch her create a wall of fire or even a pillar of flames as if it were an afterthought.

  He was nowhere near as skilled with his magic, and he’d been practicing most of his life.

  “Stay focused,” he said, when around mid-morning she sent a fireball into a group of vines and caused them to burst into flames. “We don’t want smoke signaling our location to prying eyes.”

  “We’ve been at this all morning,” she argued. “It’s time for a break.”

  “Maybe we could go exploring,” Lannis offered.

  She shook her head. “We’ve been through the tunnels. It’s boring.”

  “I don’t mean the tunnels,” he replied. The other two looked over to see him peering behind the vines she’d just set on fire. Joining him, they saw a passageway that led to a larger opening, with light shining down from holes above.

  “What is it?” Kia asked. “More tunnels?”

  Donnon frowned, unsure if they should go in, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Would you mind?” He gestured to her hand.

  “Oh!” Her face lit up and she smiled as she made a small flame in her palm. He made a motion with his own hand and some of the flame flew over to him, then came to rest in his palm just like hers.

  Using this flame for added light, he crawled through the opening and along a slight tunnel, then paused with his eyes wide in awe. He allowed the flame to grow, then let it shoot out so that he could see better.

  “Whoa,” Lannis said at his side. Kia was right behind him.

  What they had found appeared to be a sunken city, or part of one. Earthquakes and changes in soil distribution must have created this, but what they had stumbled across was obviously part of the old world. They saw a tall church wall with a circle and intricate patterns carved into it, and down to the right what appeared to be the remains of an old white building, now slightly yellow and brown like an old bone.

  A newer-looking wall held up the east side, and there were tunnels leading out of that.

  “Speak, friend, and tell us your business here,” a voice said, and they turned to see a group of men and women on a ledge opposite them. Three had crossbows at the ready, but their eyes were on the fire and they hesitated.

  “Have you heard of the invasion?” Donnon asked slowly. “Of the sorcerers who pushed Laird Summers from his manor and many more from their homes?”

  A man with a long bushy beard the same orange as the fire nodded. “You with them or against?”

  Donnon scoffed. “Do I look like I’m with them?” He stood, showing his plaid and then motioning to the children. “Do they?”

  “Answer the question.”

  “Against, us and everyone on the other side of this sinkhole including Laird Summers.”

  “He’s here?” the man asked.

  “Aye.”

  The man turned to his companions, discussed the information in hushed voices, and then turned back to them with a hesitant smile. “Tell the laird we’re here, and while we weren’t friends and we don’t know magic, we see value in a partnership. This place is defended with traps, all except the front door you found.”

  “Who was your laird?” Donnon asked.

  “We served Master Garrett at the Fortress of Stirling, but were driven from our homes. We got disconnected during the fighting.”

  “Many of us fought alongside Master Garrett,” Donnon said. “We’ll be glad to connect, as Laird Lokane is also among us.”

  “Laird Lokane and Laird Summers under the same roof, er, cavern?” The man looked at the others around him, surprised. “This we have to see.”

  They went off to send word and soon the others of their group began filing in, setting up around the cavern. They were led by the speaker, who introduced himself as Hamish. He showed them into the larger building, which was largely intact despite half the roof having been replaced by earth.

  “It has been our fallback position for quite some time,” Hamish explained when he noticed Donnon’s interest.

  “And Master Garrett?” Laird Summers asked. “Will he be joining us?”

  They shook their heads and Hamish explained, “We haven’t seen him since losing the fortress.”

  “I know where he is,” Donnon offered. “We saw him up north with Leila Lockmire and other clans who were joinin
g together there. He assumed they were the only survivors.”

  “We should send word to him,” one of the locals suggested. “If they knew we were here…”

  “He thought this place had been overrun,” Hamish explained. “So did we, but it turned out the enemy had camped aboveground without realizing this was even here. We were able to move around below and surprise-attack them. Most had already left, but those who remained never saw it coming.”

  “If we let them know we’re holed up here preparing the defense,” the first one replied, “we might stand a chance in all this.”

  “If nothing else, we could come up, hit them where we can, then duck back down out of sight. Having a defensible location we can retreat to could make all the difference.”

  Just then the paladins entered, led by Bale and, at his side, Oldran. Donnon had taken a liking to Oldran after they’d explained that he was the paladin Alastar met in Sair Talem, the one who’d told Alastar he would help. He was pledged to Alastar now.

  The local clansfolk, though, didn’t know them as well as Donnon did, and all stood back to grab weapons at the sight of the former holy warriors.

  “Whoa!” Donnon held up both hands. “We’re all on the same team here.”

  “Not with them, we’re not!” Hamish bellowed. “Do you have any idea of the hell they’ve put us through?”

  “Not us,” Bale said, lifting his hands to show he wasn’t going for his sword. “But there are others still out there, paladins fighting alongside the sorcerers. If you’ll listen to us, we can show you how to fight them. Work with you, fight side by side with you.”

  Hamish stared at him, then turned slowly back to Donnon. “You vouch for them?”

  Donnon nodded.

  “And you, Laird Summers and Laird Lokane?”

  “Aye,” the two said in unison.

  Hamish considered it for a long moment, then turned to Bale and held out a hand. The two clasped forearms.

  “Welcome to the right side,” Hamish proclaimed.

  “It’s good to finally be here,” Bale replied, and the other paladins let out a roar of approval.

  “Let’s get to it then,” Summers said. “We’ll arrange runners to notify Clan Lockmire and the rest. I imagine we’ll soon be inundated with support. Meanwhile, we’ll form teams of mages based on skills, and the paladins will train the fighters among us, so that when we meet our enemy in battle they won’t know what hit them.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  While Volney was used to walking long distances, since he and Larick had traveled all the way from the Arcadian Valley to reach the Lost Isles, he wasn’t used to moving at a military pace, and especially wasn’t used to traveling in armor. This was what the sorcerers and guards did now, since they were eager to report back to their goddess as quickly as possible in hopes that doing so would lesson Her fury.

  Using his magic for such a long period of time added an extra strain. When they stopped for a bite and drink of water he went off, supposedly to relieve himself, but really just to drop the magic for a few minutes to replenish his energy again.

  When the sorcerers started toward him, he quickly put his spell seeming back on and pretended to shake before turning and walking past with a dutiful nod.

  It’s just ahead. Larick’s voice spoke in his mind. Not much farther.

  And then the true adventure begins, Volney thought.

  Several soldiers walked by with a group of paladins, arguing. One of the paladins was tall, with long, wavy blond hair that reminded Volney of Alastar’s. He had a mean look to him. Or maybe that was just him being able to see into the man’s mind.

  “How about you, Barskall warrior?” the paladin said. Volney recognized him as Taland.

  “Pardon, I missed the beginning of the conversation.”

  The paladin’s nostril twitched as if he were disgusted in the man, but his smile remained. “You get a chance to kill the women and children, where do you stand?”

  “I’m a Barskall warrior. We do our duty.”

  “Damn, that’s what I like to hear.” The paladin clasped him on the shoulder and said, “You’ll do the job that needs doing, that’s right. Follow orders.” He turned back to the paladin at his side and put a finger an inch from the man’s eye. “Remember that, or I’ll have this Barskall shite-licker cut your throat in your sleep, got it?”

  The man nodded, shooting an icy glare Volney’s direction before walking off.

  “Did I say you were dismissed?” Taland called after him, and the man stopped. After a beat, Taland started laughing. “Get out of here, see if you can find a pair of balls to bring into the battle. Then maybe I’ll let you fight at my side.”

  Before he too walked off with his retinue, he turned back and pointed at Volney. “I want you up there with us. Going to be lots of bloodletting to be done, and I need someone with some guts in them. You up for it?”

  Volney felt like he was going to be sick, but he let out a roar of excitement as he imagined one of these Barskall bastards would do. More of this talk went on around him as he walked, ranging from war stories to stories of their accomplishments between the sheets. A quick scan of their minds showed most of the stories to be lies and embellishments.

  They reached the manor and he followed the others in, parting ways with the sorcerers at what they were calling the barracks, which were essentially the old servants’ quarters. Men and women sat around fires relaxing, drinking, and worse. He was astonished to think that whoever was in charge would allow this, when they would in theory be off to attack soon.

  Unless maybe they wouldn’t be? In a way, it made sense to let all the clans join together first. Then they could kill them in one fell swoop instead of having to chase them down throughout the land. He wasn’t sure if that was his thought, or one he had taken from Tom.

  At the first chance he got, he ran off to the outhouse and sat there for a good long time. He used the respite to both let his nervousness out through his bowels and to be himself for a time.

  “You must’ve caught something on the road.” Jon’s voice carried through the door. “Don’t make it worse than it already is in there. I’m next.”

  With a sigh of annoyance, Volney set the magic back in place and replied, “I might need to lie down after this. Something isn’t right.”

  “Damn right. Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you for a bit, but then we need to be off.”

  Volney blinked, reaching into Jon’s mind to see what he had learned in the last couple minutes.

  Patrols, he passed on to Larick. This could be my chance, if I can figure out how to stay behind.

  And my chance to get caught, Larick replied.

  Just keep your mind open so you know where they are. Find ways to distract them if you can, keep them out there longer.

  A long silence followed, then Jon knocking on the door.

  “Seriously, Tom, if you don’t hurry up I’m coming in there to check on you.”

  Volney grunted, began to wipe, and said, “Just a minute, just a minute.”

  Being sure to look his weariest, Volney pulled on his robes, projected an image of the man in armor, and stepped out.

  “Damn, can’t you give a soldier two minutes to wipe?” he asked, trying to act as he thought a soldier might.

  The other one just shook his head. “Man, we’re on thin ice as it is. We want this to be our new home, to avoid the Storm Captains long enough that they forget about us. This is our chance. Pull your head out of your ass.”

  “Yes, got it.” He glanced around, figuring out based on what he had read of Tom’s memories which direction his bed was. “Just give me a few minutes to recuperate, all right? Then I’ll be good as new.”

  “You’d better be, or it’s both our asses.”

  After hearing ass called arse since he and Larick had arrived on this crazy island, it was kind of nice hearing it without the accent. He nodded, purposefully stumbling back to the barracks and his bunk, and then collapsed onto
the bed.

  That collapsing part didn’t require any acting. He was worn out.

  At least you get a bed, Larick’s voice projected.

  Wonderful, I get a bed in a camp full of murderous scum. Happy to switch anytime. The offer won’t go away.

  Tell you what, when they invite you to a feast or offer you some of that ale, that’ll be my cue.

  Ha. In your dreams! At that thought, Volney started to drift off to sleep.

  Oh no, you don’t! This time Larick appeared next to him as if to slap him awake, then vanished as soon as he sat up. You have work to do, brother.

  Remind me to slap you when I’m done here, Volney thought.

  It wasn’t a real slap.

  Fine, remind me to mentally slap you.

  He sat on his bed listening to the revelry outside, then heard Jon’s thoughts as he approached. Another soldier stumbled in, this one looking much more like he belonged in the Lost Isles, and went to fetch something from his bunk.

  “You,” Volney said. “Jon comes by, tell him to start without me. Tell him I had to look for a place to vomit.”

  The soldier gave him a grossed-out look, but nodded.

  Volney made for the rear door, the one connecting the barracks to the main manor, giving up the stumbling act as soon as he was clear of the door.

  What’s the plan? Larick asked.

  Volney was about to respond when he walked right past the tall sorceress they had fought at the Fortress of Stirling, before it had been turned to ruins. He kept his head down, moving on in case she somehow recognized him.

  To his relief, she didn’t.

  When he was in the inner hallway, a soldier walked past and eyed him with a frown. “Hey, you!”

  He froze, then slowly turned around. “Yes?”

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing in here?” The soldier pointed to the door Volney had just come through. “You Barskall want a chance at this, you learn to follow orders. Understood?”