The Cor Chronicles: Volume 02 - Fire and Steel

by Martin V. Parece II

  The risen came first. The innermost circle of the Loszian host shambled its way without haste for the Dahken. No other Loszian soldier or slave moved a muscle as the corpses waded into the ring of defenders. They were no match for the warriors as the Dahken hacked through bone, sinew and flesh to bring down body after body. At times, it appeared the mass of corpses might overwhelm the Dahken, but the blood warriors would suddenly surge to regain their place. If a Dahken went down, it was only a matter of moments before he or she were again standing to the fight. Hills, and then small mountains, of bodies stacked around the Dahken’s defensive ring as the Loszians power over the walking corpses was broken one by one by Dahken sword blows. A horn blew, and the remaining risen, now reduced to half their original number, pulled back from the Dahken and returned to their original positions at the front of the army.

  Erella could see the soldiers shifting ranks forward and back. She could not see the purpose of these movements at first. It seemed somewhat random until the crossbowmen created a layer directly behind the walking corpses. They positioned themselves so that they could see between the risen and fire their crossbows. Then, the crossbowmen with the walking corpses in front slowly closed the distance between themselves and the Dahken, no doubt to reach the range at which their crossbows would do optimum damage. Erella surmised that the walking dead would provide cover to the crossbowmen should an errant bolt miss its target and cross the field to hit a friend.

  The concentric rings of lifeless animated corpses and crossbowmen stopped only a few dozen feet from the Dahken. The scene held still and silent for an eternal moment before a single shout went up from within the Loszian army. A loud “twang” erupted as hundreds, if not thousands, of crossbows loosed their quarrel simultaneously, and steel tipped death shot like gossamer at the armored Dahken. An enormous wall of orange fire exploded around the Dahken, consuming the rain of crossbow bolts as quickly they were fired and then was extinguished. The Loszian crossbowmen were momentarily stunned into inaction, and it took several shouted orders and whip lashings from officers for them to shake off their shock and begin reloading. Even from her hilltop, it was difficult to see due to the massive number of people surrounding the Dahken, but Erella thought she saw an unarmored woman in the middle of the Dahken’s defensive ring.

  The Loszians, their focus returned to the task at hand reloaded their crossbows and prepared to fire. Orders were shouted, but from her position some distance off, Queen Erella could not make out exactly what was said. Another order was shouted, immediately followed by the twang of crossbows, but Erella could see that only perhaps a third of the quarrels had been loosed. Again, a wall of fire sprouted from the ground to protect the Dahken, incinerating the bolts in flight. The flame’s roar obscured the sound of more crossbows being fired, but Erella could see an almost constant barrage assaulting the wall of flames. The Loszians were firing their crossbows in groups, which allowed time to reload, but kept a constant pressure on the Dahken’s magical protection. She idly wondered where the Dahken had found such power, but she also knew it wouldn’t matter much longer. In only a few minutes, the wall of flames lost volume and became thin and translucent. Erella knew that without help, the Dahken would soon be at the mercy of the Loszians.

  It was with that thought that Queen Erella of Aquis awoke in her plush bed. She thought back to the last time she had such a dream; then it had been more like a nightmare. She had bolted upright in bed, covered in sweat, and she could feel the presence of her god in the room. This time, she was calm and serene, and while she could not feel Garod, Erella knew he had brought her this vision. And oddly, she was fairly certain as to what it meant.

  The aged queen arose from her bed and clothed herself in a thick, warm robe to conceal the simple shift in which she had gone to sleep. Wrapping the robe about her body, she then stepped into a pair of soft slippers that she kept at her bedside. She crossed the room to her door with a smooth grace that for her apparent age would have amazed an onlooker. Of course, she was actually much older than she appeared, and she appeared ancient.

  Normally, she would have asked one of her chamber guards to find Palius, who would most likely be asleep in his own chamber, and bring him to her. But this time, she felt it better to go to him. She exited her chambers, motioning for the guards to stay at her door so that she may cross the palace alone in her thoughts. She crossed paths with several guards on her way, and they would all straighten quite suddenly upon seeing her approach. Even those who already stood at a perfectly erect posture found a way to stand more so.

  Even though he was Queen Erella’s most trusted advisor, Palius’ chambers, like most in the castle, stood unguarded. The old man actually requested it to be so; he said on many occasions that he would not be so presumptuous as to believe he was as important as his queen. She soundlessly opened the door and slipped in, allowing only a small lance of flickering orange torchlight to penetrate the dark interior. Palius’ first chamber was his study and office, and the queen quietly glided through a portal to her right that led to his bedchamber. The autumn had been unseasonably cold so far, and a fire burned to one side, warming the room and bathing it in a bouncing light.

  Palius lay asleep in his bed as she expected. Erella could hear his breathing across the room, and it was labored and raspy. The man had grown old quickly in the last few years, developing a bend in his back, and his beard and hair were thinning. But, there were other signs as well. Palius’ hands shook slightly, but almost constantly, and he had begun to cough lightly now and again. Queen Erella knew that as autumn turned to winter and the cold deepened, Palius would continue to worsen. As she approached his bedside, she could see a slight black ring, a dark halo, wrapping his chest, and she knew there was nothing she could do for him. It was simply that his time approached, and she wondered if her path would always be so clear without his sharp mind at her disposal. She lightly sat on the bed next to him, and his eyes fluttered open.

  “My queen, what brings you here in the middle of the night? You give your subjects cause to gossip about us,” he said to her, sliding backward to sit up against the headboard.

  “My subjects,” Erella responded with a soft laugh, “know that my heart is Garod’s alone.”

  “It is true, but why did you not send for me? I would have come to you, as always.”

  Queen Erella looked away at the fire briefly before turning her gaze back to Palius. She was careful to keep her eyes on his face, and not the cloud she could see growing around his chest.

  “I needed the exercise, such as it was,” she answered him.

  “My queen is a true daughter of Garod, and as such, she is a terrible liar. What is amiss, Majesty?”

  She closed her eyes with a soft sigh, willing the memory of the dream back into the forefront of her mind. She related it completely, with every minute detail from start to finish. Palius listened impassively, and when she finished, he closed his eyes and tipped his head slightly to one side, pinching the bridge of his nose with his left hand. She waited patiently for a few moments before he opened his eyes and asked one simple question.

  “What does it mean?”

  “It means,” said Queen Erella of Aquis slowly, “that Dahken Cor has found what he was looking for in the Loszian Empire, and now he needs our help lest he be destroyed.”

  2.

  Thom had been the commander of Aquis’ garrison force at Fort Haldon for nearly five months. He performed this duty half of every year, being one of Aquis most experienced garrison commanders. In late spring, he would leave his wife and children to keep his home safe from Loszian invaders, not that any had ever invaded since he began the duty twelve years ago, but he trusted few to do the job should the Loszians decide to. He grew tired, as his time for this year was nearly up, and he knew it would be any day that a message was brought to him detailing the departure of he and his men.

  When one of his soldiers woke him before dawn with a message brought by a rider, it was not what he
expected. As ordered by the Queen Herself, he was to send a quick moving force through the mountains to the Loszian fort with all haste. They must arrive quickly and unseen. The force will wait until the right moment and then attack the Loszians at range. Unfortunately, the orders did not explain when the “right moment” would be, but only that it would be clear. The message contained one final piece of information; they would likely be saving the life of Dahken Cor, the strange man that passed his gates somewhat recently.

  To any other soldier, this set of orders would seem utterly ridiculous and impossible. Many lesser commanders would have griped, sending a message back to their superiors saying that such a mission could not be accomplished, and in so doing, they would have missed the window for its undertaking. But Thom was not a lesser commander. He was an experienced soldier, scout, ranger and scavenger, and above all else, he was a great patriot. If these orders indeed came from the Queen, he would risk his own life and the lives of everyone under his command in the execution of them.

  Commander Thom jumped to his feet and strode to the large table he kept in his quarters, upon which he unrolled the large and detailed map of the pass connecting Aquis and Losz through the Spine. He was a tall thin man, but strong, his body wiry from the rigors of archery. Approaching middle age, his straight brown hair that he kept restrained in a neat ponytail had streaks of gray. His face was lined with the concerns of a commander of men, but also from the smiles and laughter his children gave him.

  Thom made some quick calculations and reviewed a mental roster of all of the men under his command. He would head this task himself and bring ten of his best scouts and archers. They would travel on foot, packed lightly, and he was sure that they could reach the Loszian wall by noon of the next day if they stopped to rest for only one hour. It would be grueling, but these men were used to this kind of work. The Loszians would have spied in and around the pass, just as he did. Normally, these spies ignored each other as a form of professional courtesy, but now they would have the be eliminated as Thom and his men moved. Approaching the Loszian wall unseen would be another tricky part, but Thom had never once failed his country.

  * * *

  Cor halted the group for lunch on the fourth day and announced that they would be staying there for a time. The weather had warmed a bit, and he allowed the group to relax and rest their rears. The plains had turned to rolling grassy foothills, making the ride a bit rougher, especially for the young and inexperienced. Cor explained to the group they were very near the Loszian fort that they would have to pass through to reach the mountains. He and Thyss would formulate a very strict plan, and it would require everyone to do exactly as they were told when they were told lest they all be killed. Cor should have anticipated that this would lead the smaller children to crying, and he realized that he would have to heap large amounts of responsibility on the adolescents when the time came. For now, he allowed them to simply rest, and eventually the younger children took to playing as children do while the elder watched or slept.

  Over the past few days, Cor had endeavored to learn the names of all those he led to gods knew what. They were but children. Even the oldest of them, Keth and Geoff, were only barely younger than Cor himself, two boys just entering manhood. There were also two other young teenagers, a boy and a girl named Celdon and Marya, but the rest were all ten years of age and younger. They had gravitated to each other based on common age group, which was not surprising, and Cor had to remind himself that he was not much older than any of them.

  As evening approached, Cor became restless. He had no desire to put Thyss in harm’s way, but he had no idea how to scout the Loszians. Beyond the fact that if something happened to Thyss he had no idea what he would then do to get the Dahken out of Losz, something about the idea of losing her troubled him. It felt as if a great mailed fist crushed and twisted his stomach and intestines, and simply put, he did not care for it at all. He recognized it as similar to the sensation he used to have when he thought back to his mother’s murder only a few years ago. He wondered what he would do to a Loszian, or anyone else, who dared to harm Thyss. He sat brooding as he overlooked the Dahken, and he wondered exactly what he was doing as the sun began to sink below the horizon.

  “It is almost time Dahken Cor,” said Thyss, sitting down beside him.

  “Are you sure you can do this?” he asked her without looking up.

  “You doubt me?” Her response was more of a sneer than a question, and Cor looked up to see her eyes narrowed dangerously at him.

  “No, I wouldn’t dare do that. I,” he paused not sure what to say. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Do not fear for me Dahken Cor. They will not even know I watch them.”

  Thyss abruptly stood up and stepped a few paces away from the encampment. She quickly shrugged off all of her clothing and handed it and her beautiful weapon to Cor, who stood open mouthed at her sudden action and lack of modesty. Thyss’ body was thin and tone, her muscles strong as bands of iron, but it was also lithe and supple, able to bend when necessary. She had the hard, trained body of a warrior mixed with the luscious body of a seductress, and the effect was like nothing Cor had ever felt. Many of the older boys stared openly at the exotic, beautiful and very naked woman who stood in front of them, and the younger boys giggled, though they were not sure why. Cor forced them to redirect their attention by turning and making it clear with his expression that their gazes were not required. Some still watched however, from the corners of their eyes.

  “Protecting my honor, Dahken Cor?” Thyss asked with a disdainful laugh. “I shall return by morning.”

  She held her arms to the sky above, and a slight wind blew across the grassy hills. It was almost as if Thyss caught the wind with her body and then melted into it. Cor watched as her physical form simply disappeared, turning to a mist or wisp of cloud in the wind. In a few seconds, she was simply no longer there, and the wisp of cloud rose into the air on the breeze and joined itself with a particularly fluffy white cloud. He looked into the sky longingly in the direction she had blown away and got the distinct impression that she watched him and laughed at him. Cor sat back down to brood and shook his head; the woman was truly beloved of gods.

  It was shortly before dawn when Thyss returned, and it had been a bad night for Cor. Despite her claims, Cor worried over the elementalist from Dulkur. He spent the night pacing around his refugees’ encampment, impatiently staring up into the sky in hopes of seeing any wisp of cloud that seemed to move of its own accord. Eventually, he stopped his nervousness and sat. He even tried to sleep, but every slight breeze brought him to his feet. He did not see her arrive; Thyss simply joined him from the gloom. He was exhausted from lack of sleep, and she was weak from exertion; they slept until the sun was highest in the sky.

  “Explain to me exactly what you did last night,” Cor said as they ate a lunch of nuts and dried fruit.

  “I changed my elemental form,” Thyss explained. “Your body is made of three of the four elements. It is mostly earth and water, but there is a bit of air also. I simply changed myself to a form of air and water so that I would look like a cloud or fog.”

  “You can do that at any time?” he asked.

  “Not exactly. It is very tiring, and while I gain my strength quickly, the body cannot take such stresses regularly. But, it is not the change itself that is exhausting; it’s the constant struggle to maintain my identity, my sense of self. Elemental forces are primal and chaotic. When you release your body to become one with them, you must fight constantly to not lose your mind to them as well.”

  Cor nodded; the explanation seemed simple and clear enough, though he still did not understand the actual magic itself. He never would, but one thing did occur to him as he thought her words over.

  “So, I was in no danger of losing you to a Loszian crossbow, but I could have lost you forever otherwise?” he asked.

  “I was not aware, Dahken Cor, that you owned me,” she replied. Her words c
arried a hard edge, but her eyes did not hold the danger that he had seen there on several occasions. He did not answer her immediately, but in fact waited a few moments before again speaking.

  “I thought,” he started slowly as he tried to piece it together, “you controlled fire?”

  “Hykan is my patron,” she answered, “but I can make use of all elemental magic. My abilities with fire are far more … potent, but I would never transmute myself into fire.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I would never come back,” Thyss said, and Cor could see by the look in her eyes that it was true.

  After their brief lunch, Thyss mapped out what she found. She could see the entire Loszian fort from the sky and committed every detail to memory. The first thing was that there were no pickets or advance guards of any kind on the approach to the garrison. Apparently, Menak did not consider an attack from within Losz to be of any concern. At night, it appeared that only four crossbowmen stood watch on the wall overlooking the mountain pass, with another two soldiers down on the ground guarding the mechanism that opened the door. Six more guards, these armed with swords, patrolled the cluster of buildings and two stayed outside of Menak’s quarters at all times.

  There were only six men separating them from the relative freedom of the mountain pass. The other eight were either on patrol, and therefore not immediately able to get in on a fight, or guarding Menak, and they would be loath to leave their posts for any reason. In fact, it seemed safe to assume that should a fight break out, one would rouse Lord Menak, and the other would awake the other soldiers. But it would take them time to organize, and there were only six at the wall and gate. It was about a half mile from the furthest out building to the gate, which, on horseback, they could cover in a matter of minutes. Cor knew he could handle the two guards on the ground.