by Jim Galford
Ilarra ran up the steps, fatigue soon making her legs ache even before she had gotten a quarter of the way up. Not wanting to stop and waste any more time, she did as Nenophar had taught her, convincing her body there was no pain. Almost immediately, her strength returned as magic fueled her, allowing her to push herself far beyond her physical limitations. As it did, the voices of the Turessians grew stronger in her mind and her ability to hold them back faded the longer she accepted the benefits of their powers.
With each floor of the keep she passed, Ilarra had to work harder to keep her hands from shaking as memories and thoughts she did not want came rushing in. Violence like the brutal murders she had committed back at the dinner hall flashed across her mind, making her watch as Turessians killed indiscriminately. Some she knew to be old memories, the backdrops of which were miles away and somewhere in lands Ilarra could not even identify. In them all, she saw the Turessians killing every living being and sweeping the land clear of life with their armies. They might have purpose in Lantonnian lands, but the war was hardly limited to one part of Eldvar.
By the top of the staircase, Ilarra had to wipe at tears that ran freely down her cheeks, making it difficult to see. She could not go faster than a walk, her head spinning with the massacres she had no choice but to see. She leaned numbly against the door, trying to steady herself before the fight she knew was coming. For days, she had looked forward to a singular goal like this, prayed for the chance to do something to help save Lantonne. Now, with the memories pouring into her mind, she wanted to kill the soldiers with Therec, to see them scream as they died. She could not even be sure why she wanted to kill them, but the urge was there no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.
Ilarra took as long as she dared, fighting the cravings to butcher the first people she saw. With the desires growing stronger, she could wait no longer, or she might not be able to stop herself.
Throwing the door open, Ilarra took the last few steps quickly, coming out onto the flat roof of the tower. She expected to be attacked immediately, but instead found a half dozen soldiers facing away from her. The men and women were kneeling around someone who had their back against the battlements, mostly blocking her view. None of the soldiers so much as looked her way.
“Bring the staff to us.” Ilarra recognized Dorralt’s voice from when she had first come back to Lantonne. “This is why we made you. This is your reason for existing.”
Shaking her head to try and concentrate, Ilarra started to cross to where the soldiers were, then realized the man they were huddled around was Therec. Unlike the last time Ilarra had seen him, he now looked entirely broken. Gone was the noble demeanor and confidence. The man was curled up with his face buried against his knees, the staff clutched to his chest, rocking as he wept.
At Ilarra’s approach, Therec lifted his head and stared at her in terror, clinging to the staff as he tried to slide backwards away from her. “Kill her,” he told his soldiers, though Ilarra heard him faintly over the sound of the winds that raced over the top of the tower. “Do it quickly.”
“Don’t make me do this, Therec,” Ilarra told him as magic flowed through her and formed into white-hot flames covering her right arm and crackling lightning on her left. “They’re coming for the staff. We need to get it out of the city or everyone will die. I will kill them if I have to, but I would rather we find another way.”
The soldiers drew their weapons and positioned themselves between Ilarra and Therec, but made no attempt to rush at her. From the looks on their faces, they were hoping Therec would reconsider, something Ilarra had in common with them.
“I know why you’re here,” Therec replied, clutching at his head with one hand and the staff with the other. “They’ve told me you would come. That you would destroy this city. They told me you would lead the armies back to Turessi and finish conquering my homeland.”
“Whoever ‘they’ are, they’ve lied to you,” she pleaded, taking a step forward. As she did, the soldiers raised their weapons and shields. “We are on the same side, Therec. We both want that army to fail. I don’t care where you’re from…we’re both trying to keep a city full of people alive.”
Therec let out a scream and clawed at his head. “Why are you doing this? Why did you make me kill Arlind?”
“What?” Ilarra asked, nearly losing her concentration on her spells. The soldiers seemed equally shocked, lowering their weapons and turning to stare at Therec.
Therec’s tears stopped abruptly and he nodded grimly. In that moment, Ilarra saw his eyes flare bright red for a brief second. Using the staff, he pushed himself to his feet, bracing himself against the low stone wall behind him. He took a steadying breath, then wiped the moisture from his face.
“You’re right,” said Therec, rolling his shoulders. He held the staff out at the length of his arm, tapping it on the stones as he examined it. “We are on the same side.” Swinging the staff suddenly, Therec caught the two closest soldiers with it, knocking them over the side of the battlements. They fell screaming as the others, who were farther from him, began moving.
“We’re on the same side because we’re both serving Turessi,” he added, grinning. Therec waved his empty hand toward Ilarra, and her muscles froze, preventing her from acting. “Lantonne will fall before the week is done.”
The soldiers attacked without hesitation, rushing at Therec in an attempt to get to him before he could use magic against them.
Faster than Ilarra had thought possible and certainly faster than she could cast, Therec raised his arms. The already strong winds swirled violently around him, pushing the soldiers away from him. With the extra time gained by the shield of wind, Therec cast another spell Ilarra could not identify, even with all her ill-gained knowledge. When it completed, she watched as the magic formed and began to divide, arcing toward each of the soldiers. All of them went rigid as the magic hit them, then convulsed as blood ran from their mouths and ears, steaming as it flowed. A second later, all four soldiers collapsed where they had stood.
“Ilarra, my child, why did you have to make this so difficult?” Therec asked, stepping over the bodies to walk toward her.
“Therec…stop this…” she grunted, unable to move her jaw. “This has…to end.”
“I agree completely,” the man replied, grinning as he circled her. “However, Therec is no longer in charge. I’ve been waiting for this moment, and you both played your parts perfectly. You occupied one another, while tying up those who might have some vague chance of interfering. No one left Lantonne, as I had hoped. Here, I will reestablish Turessi’s rule after making an example of the nation.”
“Dorralt?”
“Very good, Ilarra. I’m certain I’ve reminded you that I’ve been called the Puppet Master…and I am afraid you both are just more of my puppets. The plan was that Therec here would find the staff, then you would steal it and bring it to me. All the while, Therec would believe he was helping this city, right up until the moment I had him open the gates for my army. He was not supposed to even know he was one of us, watching helplessly as he believed he had made up his own mind to kill every man, woman, and child in this city. Then you went and started in with the foolishness, attacking my people and trying to get to the staff. I think you can understand why I was not going to allow that.”
“Why all this for a staff?” Ilarra asked, finding Dorralt had released the hold on her jaw, though her limbs still would not budge. “Tens of thousands of people are going to die…for what?”
Therec—or his body—laughed and came around Ilarra to face her. “Some things are worth more than the lives of a bunch of ignorant foreigners. What we are doing to these people is insignificant in the scope of what we can do once the world stops resisting us. This is my birthright and my destiny, and no one will stand in my way…after Lantonne, none will want to.
“There is no lofty goal or great prize we seek, Ilarra. I am taking back what once belonged to us. These people took our lands from us
, pushed us into the far north. Their lives do not matter because they were already borrowed from me. I gave them two millennia. I will give them no more. This farce ends today.
“This staff is only one of many things I am taking back. By rights, this staff is mine as much as these lands and so many others. I can conquer nations with an army, but with this, I can destroy the hope of anyone who still resists.”
Therec leaned close to Ilarra, his face coming close to touching hers. “Tell me about the person that gave you the power to resist me,” he insisted. “You were the first to do so. Where one manages, others will come. I wish to know what to expect. What being could manage it?”
Ilarra could feel Dorralt’s influence pressuring her, making her want to tell him what he asked. She strained to keep quiet, clamping her mouth shut. “My brother,” she lied through clenched teeth, struggling to keep control over her own thoughts. “A wildling. He’s stronger than both of us. He’s a hell of a lot stronger than you.”
“Lies do not become you. No beast was able to do this, nor will there be any left when I leave these lands. I have already sent my agents after the last holdouts, and I can assure you, your so-called brother will die with the rest. We have all the time we need to discuss this, Ilarra. I will break you, sooner or later, have no doubts. Make it easier on yourself and speak the truth.”
Her jaw aching with the effort of holding it shut, Ilarra reached up and put a hand to her chin…then realized what she had done. Therec stared at her hand in surprise. Clearly, he had not released her.
“How…?” he demanded, backing away with the staff held in front of himself. “I command you, fall to your knees!”
Ilarra stood, lifting both hands to look at them. The weight of Dorralt’s control was almost entirely gone. She could still feel the desire to kneel as he ordered, but she could ignore it as easily as a nagging thirst.
Looking around for what could have changed matters so abruptly, Ilarra’s eyes fell on a spec coming down off the mountains off to the west, growing larger by the second. At first, she thought it to be a bird, but realized how impossibly large it had to be to be visible so far away. Only one creature in any legend she had heard looked like that. She soon spotted two more like it, flanking that first creature.
“You asked how,” she told Therec, smiling as she stared off to the west. “You’ll meet him in a few minutes, whether you like it or not. The old gods have heard this city’s prayers.”
“Ignorant religious babble,” Dorralt replied through Therec, squinting at the horizon. “Even so, we should make this quick. It appears I have other concerns to deal with.” Magic raced through the air at Therec’s call, condensing into a ball of flame in the hand that did not hold the staff. As Ilarra frantically drew magic like a cloak around her body to defend herself, Therec began a second spell, lighting the staff ablaze as well.
“Let us see how well you learned from us before you die, Ilarra. I can assure you I have given you access to impressively little of our capabilities.”
Chapter Nine
“And Then There Was War”
Sliding along the wall, Raeln kept a close watch on the soldiers near the north gate. They were not looking for him, but he wanted to be sure the distraction he and Greth were working on would be a complete surprise. Being spotted early would lessen the chances of drawing enough attention to the gates to allow Ilarra enough time to get into the keep.
Raeln peeked around the lip of the wall where the stones supporting the gate helped block him from the soldiers there. On the far side, he caught the faint movement of Greth’s tail as he hid in roughly the same spot there.
The plan was simple, almost childish, and Greth had been proud to be the one to think of it.
Initially, Greth had pushed for walking up to the city guards and punching one of them, thinking it would cause a near-riot. This had been largely due to a misunderstanding of the laws in Lantonne, as in Altis such an act would have started a riot. There, Raeln understood the reaction was primarily because wildlings were to be caught and killed or sold as slaves, regardless of who they were. With the more liberal rules in Lantonne, attacking a guard would not have done much more than gotten Greth arrested for harming a city official, if that. More likely, the other guards would have bought him a drink at a nearby pub.
What would draw attention were weapons. Though every citizen of Lantonne was allowed to carry swords, bows, and the like, the laws prohibited the drawing of any such weapon in public. Doing so near a group of soldiers would be viewed as an act of war, especially with the ongoing fear of Altisian attacks in the region. The law allowed soldiers to react “as needed” to any armed citizen who presented themselves as a threat during a time of war.
Thus, their plan was born. They would leap out at the soldiers near the city’s largest barracks, weapons drawn, then run. With luck, several dozen men would be chasing them in minutes. If they could direct the chase through specific parts of the city, they might have a somewhat comical horde of soldiers in pursuit. When they were caught, there would be a long stay in the city dungeons, but they were both willing to take the risk.
Leaning out far enough he knew Greth might be able to see his ears, Raeln waited for the signal to attack. He drew his sword slowly, trying not to make much noise. As close as they were to the barracks, timing was essential, or he would get jumped by men that had no idea he was no threat.
At last, Greth poked his own head out and gave Raeln a sharp nod to say he was ready.
Raeln leapt from the shadowed corner of the wall and ran as hard as he could into the open area where five soldiers were lingering near the barracks door, less than fifty feet from the north gates. The men turned and looked between him and Greth, not one of them drawing their weapons or reacting anything like Raeln had expected.
The closest of the soldiers, clad in heavy armor with a full helm, pulled off his helmet and revealed an old human with a long mane of white hair. Wrinkles blended evenly with scars as he stared Raeln down. “Raeln? What in seven of the nine hells are you doing here?” the man demanded, giving Greth a sharp glare that took the momentum out of his step. “You picked a damned good time, boy. We’ve been looking for more trained men.”
Raeln stared in disbelief at the man that had been instrumental in his early combat training back in Hyeth. He had not seen the old man in years, but knew his face anywhere. “Phillith?” he asked, his sword arm dropping to his side. “You retired…”
“Not anymore,” the soldier answered, smiling. “Look out at the plains and anyone can see why. King and country, and all that.”
Raeln looked out toward the flats of the plains through the open gate and saw an army waiting there. There were thousands of figures less than a mile outside the farthest building, waiting near the old quarry town.
Phillith walked up to Raeln and grabbed his wrist to look at the sword in his hand. “Altisian weapon,” he noted, then eyed Raeln up and down. “You’ve lost weight, but you look like you’ve been pushing yourself. That’s good if we’re going to win this. I’d worried that you let yourself get killed when Hyeth fell, but I’m glad to see you and even more glad you brought help. My men will arm you, and then I’ll brief you on the situation and our plans.”
“We…we’re supposed to be running now,” Greth said forlornly as he walked over beside Raeln, his ears drooping in confusion. “That distraction thing…”
“Don’t know what you’re trying to distract anyone from, but I’m drafting you both into service,” Phillith told Greth firmly, releasing Raeln’s hand. “Straighten your back, boy. You look sloppy, and I won’t have any slop in my troops. You could learn something from Ralen. Do you even know how to use those weapons?”
Greth glanced down at his sword, and then at the axe at his side and the bow slung across his shoulder. “I’ve been hunting since I was old enough to walk,” he answered, giving Raeln a look of utter confusion. “What’s going on?”
“This is Captain Phillit
h,” Raeln explained.
“Commander. I got promoted to convince me to come back and lead these pathetic wretches.”
“Commander Phillith,” corrected Raeln. “He taught me to fight until I was about ten, then I had several other teachers.”
“Lower that damned weapon, boy!” snapped Phillith, glaring at Greth, who hurriedly brought his weapon to his side even though he seemed torn about it. “Fall in with the armored infants they assigned to me over there. When the attack comes, you’ll be the last man standing on that corner of the gate, or you’ll get my boot in your ass. Understood?”
Greth’s mouth moved, but no words came out. He inched away, moving toward the indicated position, not taking his eyes off of Phillith.
“Good kid,” Phillith told Raeln once Greth was far enough away he could not hear, standing uncomfortably alongside several of the soldiers. “You trust him?”
“With my life.”
“Can he fight?”
“At least as well as I can, depending on the situation. He’s better in the wilds, but he’s good.”
“Excellent. Do you know what we’re facing here?”
Looking out at the plains, Raeln answered, “Maybe four or five thousand. How many do we have in reserve?”
Laughing, Phillith replied, “The seven of us, plus a hundred or so archers up on the walls, spread around the whole city. There’s maybe an equal amount at the other gate. A hundred up in the keep, but they’re no help until we’re dead or fall back. Idiot king sent thousands of our men on a romp through the foothills after a legend.”
“That’s all we have left? Does the enemy know?”