by Kurtis Smith
***
Late that night the village of Habok came into view. In the dark they could only make out the lights and the silhouettes of the buildings. From a distance the lights resembled a small group of fireflies, frozen in mid-flight. There didn’t seem to be much to the village. Davin counted about a two dozen small homes encircling a handful of larger buildings situated close together. The town seemed only a hair bigger than Cruud, but smaller towns were all that made up the Golden Plains so this didn’t surprise them.
As they drew closer to the village, Davin could make out loud voices from the village yelling into the night. Through the darkness, black outlines of people could be seen running back and forth between buildings. Their shouts were unintelligible but it was clear that something wasn’t right. And then Davin saw what everyone seemed to be trying to keep away from. Every now and then other moving outlines crept between the buildings. These bodies were fast and frantic, switching directions on a whim. The movement was erratic but there was also a sort of stagger to their step, as if they were sick and this sickness impaired their movements.
Davin looked at Egan and the others. All of four of their expressions were uneasy. This did not seem normal by any means.
Davin stretched out with his hearing and thought he heard the clashing of weapons and the sickening rip of limbs.
Silhouettes of people fighting the sickly folk off became clearer the closer they came to the scene.
Egan tensed and pulled his silver sword from its scabbard at his belt. Davin followed Egan’s lead with the weapon he had taken from the soldier at Liam’s home. It had served him well enough up until this point, but it would not last, not if he eventually had to fight a long battle.
“Stay farther behind us, you two,” Egan said to Teague and Kayleigh. “At least until we know what is going on.”
“I can fight if need be,” said Teague, affronted. “I have been trained by the very army we stand against.”
“I will not stand back either,” Kayleigh interjected. “This does not look like something the Grand Army has a hand in. It seems to be a town dispute.”
Egan did not say anything for a few minutes. All the while the village grew nearer to them as they walked.
Davin started to ask if Egan was going to respond to her when Egan said, “Have it your way, my lady. But still I ask you not to wander away from us.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Do you not know me at all by now? These things don’t scare me, so just as a general rule, remember to put any preconceived notions about woman you have aside when speaking to me.”
“I’m sorry. I forgot who I was talking to. It won’t happen again,” said Egan, raising his hands in surrender.
The four of them walked cautiously past the first couple of homes. Immediately they were rushed by scared villagers. Several men and women pulled up in front of them, their eyes quickly falling to Davin and Egan’s swords. This seemed to give them hope that Davin and Egan could help them, because they began to plead desperately. Davin tried to back away awkwardly while Egan tried to calm them.
As Egan began to raise his voice in attempt to quiet them, another voice, deep and resonating, rose above group. “Leave the strangers be, friends. They are not here to solve our problems.”
Slowly, the group dissipated from around Davin and Egan, allowing them to see who the speaker was. He was a tall man with well-made clothes and broad shoulders. Manliness seemed to radiate off his body. His golden hair was straight and fell just passed his soldiers. He looked young, but his calm, secure attitude and scarred skin said that he had experienced much. He smiled at the four of them faintly.
“I apologize for my abruptness but we have a situation. Allow me to be quick. My name is Druce and I am the leader of this village. Unofficially, I am the governor, considering the real one chose banishment. I see you carry weapons. Can you fight?”
But he didn’t have to wait for an answer because suddenly a large group of the mad soldiers bombarded the impromptu meeting.
Several of the group of people standing there with Druce scattered away.
The rest spun around to face the possessed soldiers. Their uniforms were tattered and ripped, hair disheveled, faces pale and lifeless, and large scars covered their bodies. It looked like they had scratched at themselves fiercely. And their eyes were severely blood-shot and wild. They staggered with a familiarity of someone who had swallowed too much mead in one sitting.
“Back, you monsters,” said Druce, pulling a large bow up over his head and fitting it with an arrow. He pointed it in the direction of the men and fired. One of them fell.
Egan raised his sword as several converged on him. Davin rushed forward to Egan’s aid as two of the soldiers reached him. With a couple of rapid swipes across their chests, the soldiers were dead before they realized what was happening. Egan handily disarmed another by cutting off his sword hand and then impaled him in the gut. Druce and his comrade fired two more arrows at the soldiers. The arrows pierced their skulls and they too fell.
Driocht wasn’t even necessary. These unnatural soldiers had lost some of their fighting skills. In the matter of a minute, only one remained present.
“Wait,” Egan halted him, “let us see what he does.” Druce looked at him as if he too had lost his mind, but consented.
The one remaining soldier groaned incomprehensible gibberish and then shivered violently.
For that short moment, humanity returned to him. He sounded like a frightened, but sane man; his eyes had become less wild.
Before anyone could react, though, he slipped back into his haunted state. He rolled his head around as if looking for something. His eyes cast around and found Davin.
Davin tried to look away, but every time he turned back the soldier’s eyes were still upon him. It was as if Davin was the one he was looking for. Without any provocation, the man charged at Davin, still muttering to himself. Davin held his sword firmly in his grip, ready to strike when the man came. Druce loosed an arrow from his bow but the soldier was too fast for it. Davin prepared for the contact.
Another mad soldier emerged from behind the house they were nearest, and grabbed at the back of Egan’s tunic. “You are the ones we need,” he said, hoarsely. Egan pushed the man off it him and held his sword to the man’s throat.
Davin, who had momentarily forgotten about the one charging at him, turned around just in time see the soldier slam into him. The sword dropped from Davin’s hand and the impact sent him tumbling to the ground. They struggled for several seconds on the ground, neither gaining the upper hand. In between the shouts of mindless rambling Davin heard him say in a raspy and disturbed, voice, “We’ve found what my lord seeks. The First Captain has commanded…come with us…”
Davin noted that his strength did not easily over power this man and there was no doubt in his mind why.
“Egan, these men have the false power of the Ancients!”
He began to reach for his sword when he realized he couldn’t beat the soldier by brute strength. His fingertips had just reached the hilt when the man grew limp on top of him. Confused, he pulled the man off and saw three long arrows protruding from the top his head. He nodded to Druce in appreciation. Druce returned the gesture. Davin also noticed that Druce had managed to kill one that had charged at him as well.
“Davin,” Egan called him, and Davin turned to him. Egan was holding his sword tip still at the soldier’s throat, but the soldier was now holding a glowing light green Driocht orb. “I am going to try something.”
“What are you doing?” Davin asked. “Don’t give him that again. He can use our power.”
Egan thought about it for a moment and then put the orb away.
“What about the Union of Consciousness? It might work. These men have our other powers. I might be able to find out how they are getting them. It might be our only chance.”
“It will kill him. It nearly killed me,” said Davin.
“This man’s life is al
ready forfeit.”
Davin couldn’t deny this fact. He nodded.
Egan made a swift movement and grabbed the man by the head, just as he had with Davin. He closed his eyes as he performed the Union of Consciousness.
Ushering Davin over to them, he said, “You should see this too.”
“It won’t work, will it?” Davin objected. “My mind is still too weak. You told me”-but his sentence was cut short when Egan grabbed his head and his vision went blank.
Panicking, Davin braced for the ache of his head the best he could, but it never came. It wasn’t like last time. There was only a light throbbing around his temples, not searing pain like before. He reached for his eyes, fearing he had gone blind. But then what seemed like hundreds of images flashed through his mind, all from the soldier’s life. They came and went too quickly to remember any details. This was what Egan had done in Davin’s own mind; he was sifting through memories, searching for the right one. When whirling stopped, he was dizzy and wanted to lie down, but those thoughts were swiftly silenced in him.
He was watching a large group of soldiers standing at attention. They were being addressed by none other than First Captain Deverell in an old uninhabited dungeon. It was an abandoned part of the O’Hara home at the Capital. That much was clear. The walls were dark stone and the shadows ran deep, as if the room knew the truth of what was taking place in its midst.
The soldiers’ gazes fixed resolutely on Deverell as he began. “You all have volunteered for this experimental procedure,” said Deverell, in his all too familiar, arrogant tone. “You were chosen for this because you are the best the Grand Army has to offer. You are the strongest, the fittest, and the most intelligent. Take note of this because it is a great compliment and you should be proud.” He smiled in a falsely warm way.
As his smile faded he continued. “You all know the fable of the Ancients and their power. It has always been hailed as one of the great myths of world. I am here to tell you that it is true. They and their powers did exist and we have discovered the secret to unlocking them.” There was a great amount of murmuring at this. Deverell raised his hand to silence them. “They were no different than you and I. And after years of research, we have seized their power for my own. I will help you discover the power within your own minds. You will be the King’s elite enforcers of the law, his Nameless. Do you accept this task?”
“Yes, sire!” they all exclaimed at once.
One by one, Deverell touched them on their arms and they grew rigid, as if under a trance. And he spoke something soft in their ears. The men whom he hadn’t reached yet exchanged looks of confusion. Davin couldn’t comprehend it either. What was the purpose of this?
When Deverell came to the man whose memory Egan was watching, Davin they heard him say, “Go and find the ones who have escaped me. You will know when they are near. Make sure they are not left alive.” And the man nodded.
The moment Deverell touched the soldier’s skin Davin felt the mind he was sharing become completely blank. It was as if the soldier’s mental slate had been wiped clean. Then, it began to push them back out.
Davin suddenly felt himself exiting the soldier’s thoughts.
A moment later the man who’s mind they had just experienced convulsed and fell over backward, foaming at the mouth. Egan checked the man’s pulse. He was dead.
“What exactly happened here?”
Druce frowned slightly, turning his head away for a moment. “We’re not entirely sure. Men who have seemed to lose their minds advanced upon our village around nightfall. They were dressed in the uniforms of the Grand Army. There was nothing coherent we could get out of them.”
“Where are they now? We saw several on the way in,” Egan said quickly.
“O’Hara is getting more desperate,” Egan said quietly to Davin. “He has Deverell sending regiments of soldiers out in search of the scroll piece. And keeps sending larger amounts of men out with this mockery of our power to try and stop us from getting to the scroll first.”
He turned to the lord of the town, raising the volume of his voice. “How many did you count here, lord Druce? And are there any more?”
Druce swiftly strode over to them. “The number was the size of an Outfit at the start, about fifty men. My close friend and I are the best fighters in this town. We dispatched most of them on our own. We kept one alive for interrogation to see what he might divulge. The more I see of them, though, the more I doubt that idea will work.”
When Egan raised his eyebrows, Druce waved his hand nonchalantly. “It was not difficult. They did not pose much threat us and attacked mindlessly, which is why I was shocked to see how they reacted to you.”
Egan ignored the comment in favor of more information. “Has this happened before?”
Druce shook his head. “Not here. But we have heard word from other travelers that there have been mad soldiers running amuck as of late. They have apparently found their way into other cities as well, and in greater numbers than here.” After a short pause he spoke again. “Now I have a question for you. Why were they speaking to you and what was that glowing substance you gave that man?”
Egan grimaced at the man. “First, what is your position about our King?”
Druce looked taken aback by the question, as if it were an inappropriate time. But he responded without further hesitation. “He has lost his mind. I wish to see him thrown from his place of power and cast into the sea. His soldiers have obviously followed him into madness, which is an expected course. Yet, I am troubled that there is something deeper at work here.”
Seeing Egan’s line of thought Davin interjected, “Would you stand against him if you had the means?”
“Without a doubt.”
Egan’s smiled broadened. Davin knew what that meant. “I believe it is time my comrades and I to come out from the shadows and explain ourselves fully. We have must to talk about.”
Egan turned to Davin and spoke in a whisper. “It’s time to confront the ones in charge of this mess. It is clear to me now that removing the King and the First Captain from power is our priority. Tomorrow we leave for Swift River, and we may have more help than we expected.”
Chapter 24 The Former Grand Soldiers
“Come let us go indoors and speak in comfort,” said Druce.
He led them toward the center of town, his fellow fighter, whom he had mentioned, falling in step behind him. Davin found it curious that the man had said nothing since they had arrived at Habok. He looked just the opposite of Druce in every way, but seemed to have the same spirit and bravery in his step that Druce did. They seemed to fit as a team.
Teague and Kayleigh fell in line behind Egan and Davin as they paraded toward the larger buildings. Davin noticed that most of the villagers had retreated back into their homes since the escapades outside had finished. This made him grateful, and he wasn’t the only one. Egan, in particular, expressed his feelings. He was glad they weren’t going to be bombarded by people wondering who they were, to which Teague and Kayleigh nodded in agreement.
The town’s streets had a smattering of lifeless bodies, some of which were not soldiers. Many were dead villagers. Davin clenched his fist involuntarily. This was all Deverell’s doing. And O’Hara allowed it, which made him just as guilty.
As they approached the steps of a raised building, Davin caught the sight of a bound man with a soldier’s uniform on. They had tied him tightly with thick ropes, but he didn’t seem to mind. His face was free of concern or anger.
“Here is the one we captured,” Druce said. “I am not sure what information we can gain from him, but it is worth a try.” He looked to Egan, seeming to wonder if he approved of the action.
“That was a good plan. Let’s wait to see if his mind will return and then we will interrogate him. Leave him alone as long as you can.”
“We will do that,” Druce said, and then he turned to his silent friend. “Aiden, will you see that the man is provided with sustenance and a warm b
ed. Do everything you can to make sure he recovers, even though it may not happen.” Aiden bowed slightly, and dismissed himself away from the group.
Davin found himself watching the man stride off across the street and into the building on its other side. The building, Davin figured, was the town Healing Station where the Cureist worked. When he turned back he found Druce’s eyes resting on him. Davin decided to pose the question.
“Why does he not speak?” Davin asked, as politely as he could. He hoped Druce would not take offense to the question. To Davin’s relief, he didn’t.
“Because he cannot,” Druce told him bluntly. “Come let us go inside.”
He led them up the steps, onto the wooden porch and then in through the front door. Inside was a small tavern. It seemed so quaint compared to The Golden Outpost in Cruud. Despite its size, it was well maintained. The bar, the floor, tables and chairs all gleamed with a light, wood-colored cleanliness.
There were a couple of scattered customers sitting at the tables. Druce did not seem concerned. He simply addressed each one of them quietly and they rose moments later to leave, only one of them putting up a fight. But once Davin watched the obstinate one stumble to the exit, he understood the spirits had been talking, not the man.
Druce sat down at one of the larger tables near the bar, followed by the others.
Before anything else was said Druce turned his head and called out to the bartender. “James, can you bring us…” he counted in his head quickly, “six glasses of the Red Boar brew.” Behind Druce, the bartender immediately began scurrying about.
He turned back and faced Davin. “As I was saying,” he continued, much to Davin’s surprise, “he cannot speak because his tongue was taken from him years ago.”
“Why?” Davin asked before he could stop himself. Egan threw him a look, but he ignored it.
“Simply put? Punishment from the army.”
“I can’t believe the army would do that,” Davin said, exasperatedly.