by Chuck Black
Peyton’s grasp on Leinad’s arm loosened, and his arm fell to the ground. The last bit of air escaped from his lungs, and he died.
“No!” Leinad cradled his father close to his breast. Peyton’s final words were temporarily lost in an avalanche of emotion. A flood of tears ran down his cheeks and onto the pale face of his father. His moans of mourning were hidden beneath the crash of the farmhouse and the raging fire that engulfed the remaining timber.
“I’m sorry, Leinad,” Gabrik said. “The wound was too severe. I did everything I could.”
Tess made her way to Peyton’s body and knelt across from Leinad. Though she was well acquainted with hardship, Peyton’s death crushed her softening heart. She cried the tears of a lost child. Leinad’s tears of sorrow could not quench his burning anger.
GABRIK HELPED LEINAD bury Peyton next to his beloved wife, Dinan, on the lush hillside that welcomed the sun each morning near the farmhouse. The somber trio gave honor to Peyton and Dinan in reverent silence. Never before had Leinad felt so alone.
Leinad knelt down and grabbed a handful of the cool, soft dirt. Digging the grave had given some respite to the intense sorrow Leinad felt, but in the stillness of the moment, grief once again pressed hard upon his soul, and he could not restrain his tears. He wept bitterly for his father.
He had felt the same deep hurt in his heart eight years ago when he and his father stood over his mother’s grave. This time there was no one to comfort him as his father had … no one to hug him and give him the courage to carry on. His sorrow penetrated to his bones.
Leinad fought through the intense feelings of anger and revenge to search for some purpose that would persuade him to press forward. After a few moments, Tess placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and then at Gabrik with moistened eyes.
“Why, Gabrik? Why?”
The impact of an ancient war cut deep into Leinad’s heart, and he knew that Gabrik felt it too.
“Because Lucius knew that your father was the key to the kingdom.”
“So now that he is dead, hope is dead. And what have we gained?” Leinad asked bitterly.
“No, Leinad,” Gabrik said. “The hope lives on!”
A SWORD AND A MISSION
Leinad stood motionless at his father’s grave long after the shadows had reversed their direction. He clung in desperation to the memories of his father, afraid that they too might fade like those of his mother. Though in his mind he knew that his father was gone, it did not feel real. The distance of time had not yet seared that truth into his heart.
As he raced through the memories of his father, he could not stop before he rushed once again into the tragedies that had occurred earlier that day. It was only then that Leinad remembered in astonishment the words his father had spoken just prior to his death. The words sounded in his mind almost as though his father were still speaking them. I love you … I have prepared you for a greater purpose … stay true to the King … discover the promise and … beware … of … your brother!
Broken from his trance, Leinad ran back to the ruins of the farmhouse. Tess was searching through the blackened remains and had found the scorched combs Peyton had given her. Though unusable, she held them as though they were a treasure to her.
“Tess!” he exclaimed, worried that the only one who might be able to answer his questions was gone. “Where is Gabrik?”
“I don’t know, Leinad,” she said, somewhat amazed at Leinad’s sudden enthusiasm.
“Gabrik!” Leinad called, searching the surrounding country.
Gabrik peaked a nearby rise in the terrain and cantered his horse toward the farmyard. Just then, along the same ridgeline but a good distance to the north, another rider appeared. His horse reared and neighed. Gabrik stopped his horse and turned to look at the rider, as did Leinad and Tess. The rider was in full battle dress, covered in armor from his neck to his feet. His presence was threatening.
Leinad felt apprehensive, and his mind struggled with many questions. Was this a scout for an entire army or a lone rider? Was he hostile or friendly? With no sword or horse, Leinad could not fight or flee. How could he protect Tess if he needed to?
The rider raised both of his arms into the air, then lowered them below his waist and bowed his head. Leinad saw Gabrik reply to the rider with the same gesture. Then Gabrik and the rider rode toward each other. Their exchange diffused the tension, and Leinad relaxed somewhat.
“What is it, Leinad?” Tess asked.
Leinad turned to see her sweet face covered with streaks of soot, and he was reminded of the day he saw her on the streets in Mankin. It was the first time he’d had thoughts of someone other than himself since the tragedy of the morning. He was ashamed that he thought he was the only one truly hurting.
“I’m not sure, Sunshine,” Leinad said.
Tess smiled slightly. He addressed her with the nickname Peyton had given her. It seemed to bring her comfort, and Leinad felt it too.
“Thanks fer savin’ me from the fire, Leinad.” Tess wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him.
Unsure of what to do, he gave her a quick hug back.
“It was, uh, nothing, but you’re welcome,” Leinad said. Tess let loose and gave Leinad some room.
“What we gonna do now?” she asked.
Leinad watched intently as Gabrik and the rider covered the remaining distance between them.
“I don’t know,” Leinad said, still focused on the distant figures. “I just don’t know. I know how to farm, and we’ve still got the land. I guess we’ll continue on.”
Leinad suddenly became aware that he alone was responsible for Tess now. The burden of providing for, teaching, nurturing, and protecting another seemed so easy for his father, but the thought of it nearly panicked Leinad.
Leinad saw Gabrik and the rider salute each other and separate. The rider turned back north from where he came, and Gabrik directed his horse toward Leinad and Tess at a pace significantly faster than earlier. When he drew near, he slowed his horse to a halt and dismounted.
Leinad approached him and looked up into Gabrik’s eyes—eyes he once feared, but that was no longer true. His quest for answers overpowered any inhibition he might have once felt.
“You heard my father’s last words, and I think you know what they mean. Who are you, Gabrik?” The question was simple. Leinad knew that its answer would go far beyond that of “the blacksmith of Mankin.”
Gabrik looked at Leinad, then turned to adjust some leather straps on his horse. There was an urgency in his movements that hadn’t been there earlier. The muscles rippled across his back.
“I am a servant … a servant of the King. I am a messenger. I am a guardian.” He turned his head toward Leinad. “I am a Silent Warrior.” He finished his adjustments and turned squarely to face Leinad. “I have one remaining task, and my mission here will be complete, for a time. And yours will begin.”
“My father spoke of a promise. What is the promise?” Leinad asked, resolving not to let Gabrik leave him with unanswered questions. How he would stop this massive warrior from leaving was something he wasn’t sure how to accomplish.
Gabrik walked to the opposite side of his horse and removed an object. “The search for the promise begins with this, Leinad.” Gabrik held forth the beautiful sword and scabbard Leinad and Peyton had seen in his blacksmith shop weeks earlier. “I was commissioned by the King to fashion it for you and deliver it today.” The sword was truly a work of mastery. Leinad responded with disbelief and did not feel worthy to accept it.
“But I … I can’t,” Leinad said. “I am unable to—”
“You have been chosen, Leinad. If you do not accept the sword and its mission, the restoration of Arrethtrae may never come.”
I am but a boy, Leinad thought. I could not even save my father. Even with this magnificent sword, how can the King use the likes of me to bring restoration to the kingdom? Leinad found a hundred reasons to refuse the sword and its mis
sion, but one haunting truth would not let him: The King believed in him, and so did his father. Even if he failed, how could he deny such trust and honor?
Leinad stared at the sword offered to him and wondered at its beauty and purpose. He slowly lifted his hands to receive it.
“As the King lives, I swear to give Him my life in service.”
Gabrik placed the sword in his hands, and Leinad secured the sword and scabbard about his waist. Strangely, it strengthened his heart and his resolve. He looked once again into the penetrating eyes of the Silent Warrior.
“What is the promise and where do I find it?”
Gabrik shook his head. “That is something I cannot answer, for I do not know.”
“Then tell me, Gabrik …” Leinad hesitated before asking his next question. “Who is my brother?”
Gabrik paused, crossed his arms, and his gaze went to the ground. Leinad wondered what additional fabric of his life was about to be torn.
“We have urgent business to attend to, but you must know the answer to that question if you are to be prepared for what lies ahead. Before you were born, your mother gave birth to twin sons. Peyton raised them as he raised you. One son was a noble boy with a heart for the King. The other son, however, had a heart that would not be bridled, and his rebellious spirit directed him. His jealousy over his brother grew day by day. Your father loved them both, but all his efforts to turn the heart of the second son were met with contempt. One day, while in the fields away from your father, the second son’s anger and jealousy became so great that he killed his brother.”
Leinad now understood the ache he had felt in his mother’s heart and the sense of failure he felt from his father from time to time. This was one of the lost pieces of the puzzle he had searched for regarding his own past.
“What happened to the—” Leinad spoke words that felt unfamiliar—“to my other brother?”
“He was banished from the region. The King ordered that he be given a wound across his forehead as punishment for his crime. He made his home in the distant land of Nod. Because of his skill with the sword, he was able to rise to a position of power and now commands a formidable army … an army of destruction.”
As if a veil had been removed from his eyes, Leinad instantly made the connection of his brother’s identity.
“His name is Zane!” he stated enthusiastically.
Gabrik raised one eyebrow. “Yes, how did you know?”
Leinad told Gabrik of his encounter with Lucius earlier that morning and also of his fight with the man named Zane. The realization that he had fought and nearly killed his brother gripped Leinad.
“Though Zane is a blood brother of yours,” Gabrik said, “make no mistake about it—he is an enemy of the King and of the people of Arrethtrae. He will not hesitate to kill you or anyone else if that is what Lucius commands. Lucius will stop at nothing to disrupt the King’s plan, and a man like Zane is a perfect tool.” Gabrik continued to adjust the saddle and pack on his horse.
“Gabrik, why would a powerful warrior like Lucius need Zane to accomplish his work?”
Gabrik quickly set to removing his pack from his horse. “The King’s Silent Warriors are Lucius’s primary concern. The people of Arrethtrae are largely unaware of the ferocious battle that is occurring in their land between us and Lucius and his Shadow Warriors. The victor of the hidden war will rule Arrethtrae. Just as the King has chosen you as a key part in His plan to bring victory, Lucius has chosen your brother and his men to accomplish his evil purposes overtly. Now that Lucius has eliminated your father, he will use every resource available to him, including Zane, to widen his influence in the entire kingdom. He plans to rule Arrethtrae one day … and he is a patient man. If he knows of your existence, he will seek to destroy you as well. But do not fear, Leinad, the King will be with you in ways that you will not even realize.”
Gabrik was nearly finished preparing his horse. “Leinad, the people of Kerr are in serious danger. By order of the King, you must ride to Mankin and warn the city of an approaching disaster. You must hurry.”
“What disaster are you speaking of, Gabrik?”
Gabrik stopped his preparations and became very serious. “The Vactor Deluge.”
Leinad looked at Tess, and her puzzled look mirrored his own confusion.
“The Vactor Deluge is a terror that is coming upon the land like no one has ever seen before,” Gabrik said. “It is an innumerable swarm of miniature creatures called Vactors. They are so small that a grouping of thousands will darken only the tip of an arrow. Individually they are little more than a nuisance, but as a massive swarm that covers an entire countryside, they are devastating. Originating from the shores of the sea, they will devour the entire land. Any living substance, from the grass to the trees to the cattle to the people—all will be consumed. The swarm moves on the ground at a speed faster than a swift horse, without warning. There is no escape.”
Had Leinad heard this from anyone other than Gabrik, he would have found it difficult to believe. But Gabrik’s words were the King’s words, so Leinad chose to believe.
“How can anyone survive such a terror?” he asked.
“You must get the people to high country. The Tara Hills Mountain Range will provide enough elevation to save them. The Vactors cannot survive in the heights of the mountains. Get yourselves and the people there, and you will live. Once the supply of food for the Vactors is exhausted, they will die, and the land will be reborn after some time has passed.”
Leinad silently questioned himself and his capabilities. This day is becoming a nightmare of nightmares … when will I awake? His thoughts were interrupted by Gabrik’s large hand on his shoulder.
“The King believes in you, Leinad. Now you must believe in the King and in the confidence He has in you.”
It was the one and only moment of tenderness Leinad had ever seen in Gabrik. He returned the affirmation with a firm nod.
Gabrik quickly scanned the surrounding country. “Enough talk. We may be too late already. Lucius stole your horses, so you must take mine. It is time for me to rejoin my men.”
Leinad mounted the large steed, and Gabrik effortlessly lifted Tess onto the saddle behind him. Leinad looked down at Gabrik as he stroked the horse’s mane.
“What is his name?” Leinad asked.
“Deliverance.”
“Will I see you again?” he asked of the mysterious companion who had been a friend and an unknown protector of Leinad and his father for many years.
Gabrik looked at Leinad but did not answer his question. “For the King’s honor!” Then he turned and began jogging northward.
Leinad turned his horse and his thoughts toward Mankin. Even if he reached them in time, what could he say that would make them believe him?
Tess held Leinad’s waist tightly as he pressed Deliverance into a full gallop and raced toward the unknown. As the wind blew across his face, Leinad wondered what path he should take. Deliverance instinctively knew the way to Mankin and followed it. Leinad was envious, for his course was unknown.
The familiarity of his farm quickly fell behind, and so did the life he once knew. Though his heart ached for what once was, in the depths of his soul he knew he would never be able to return.
LET THEM HEAR
Leinad and Tess made the ride to Mankin in record time but still arrived late in the afternoon. The town was in the midst of a wedding celebration complete with music, dancing, and much drinking. But a terrifying storm was building, and no one could see it. At the cursing of many, Leinad did not slow his horse until he reached the town square. He quickly dismounted and left Tess with Deliverance as he ran a few paces across the square platform to the bell tower and pulled the rope twice to signal a town meeting. He knew that he would lose time if the townspeople retreated to their homes under a full alarm. It would be necessary to convince them of the severity of the impending disaster. When the music stopped, the celebration quickly diminished.
The t
own prefect emerged from the courtyard of his manor house, which was near the edge of the town square, where the celebration seemed to be centered. As the prefect made his way to the bell tower, it was clear that he was extremely annoyed. A few of the prominent men of Mankin accompanied him. As they neared the bell tower and saw that the alarmist was a boy, their demeanor changed from annoyance to anger. Many of the people were already gathering at the platform where all of the meetings were held.
“What is the meaning of this, boy?” the prefect barked. “I am the only one in Mankin that can call a town meeting!”
“Prefect, I am Leinad, Peyton’s son. I was sent by the King to warn you of a disaster that is coming to destroy Mankin.”
The prefect burst into laughter. “If the King is still alive, He doesn’t rule these parts. I am the authority here, and besides, there is no disaster coming that we have not already survived.”
Although the smell of wine was heavy on his breath, he was well in control of his faculties, much to Leinad’s amazement.
The people in the square moved from the prefect’s manor across to the bell tower. Others outside the square joined them as well. The square was filling rapidly.
“Please, Prefect, there is not much time,” Leinad said. “The King has told me to warn you of the Vactor Deluge. It will come from the coasts and devour everything in its path. You must warn the people and tell them to flee to the hills and hide until this passes.”
“Listen here, boy!” the prefect said. “I govern these people, and nobody tells me what to do! I have no reason to believe anything you have said. And as far as the King is concerned, if He even exists, we run things our way.”
By now the square was full. Leinad knew that the prefect would not listen, so he risked offending him further by addressing the people directly.
“People of Mankin!” Leinad shouted to reach the entire crowd with his words.