The Last Pantheon: of hammers and storms

by Jason Jones

  “Do not apologize, no man can know the pain you are in now. Here, drink this, and lay on your side slowly. Keep breathing, deep and slow. Good.” Garret rubbed his brow then gave the herbal concoction of roots and stems steeped in hot water and honey to Rosana.

  She drank it, winced, then drank the rest down despite the bittersweet taste. “What does that mean, the baby has turned, what do I do? And how do you know it is a boy?”

  Garret wiped her brow again, wringing the cloth out with fresh cool water, then replacing it on her flush cheek. “It means that your child is preparing to arrive. You have another two months before that is supposed to occur. There is nothing you can do, it is Aldens will. I feel Gods will often, he told me you would have a son, just not this soon.”

  “I am not ready, it is too early, I have not a name nor a home, I am on the road, in a carriage in this damnable heat, without my mother, oh father, help me---“

  “I will be here, calm yourself Rosana. I have delivered children many times. The most important thing is to remain calm, keep eating, and to take in water, do not lose your strength. We will get through this fine, Alden watches over us.” Garret handed her some water and rubbed the cloth across her neck and face some more to soak up the sweat. He was nervous, concerned, but he tried not to let it show.

  Sir Leonard and Sir Karai took a fast knee and bowed as they entered the tent, two dwarves with clanking platemail and braided red beards followed them in. The knights were clean shaven from chin to head, armbands of the feathered cross over black battle tunics of leather, still with the crown and rose of Harlaheim. The two dwarves, Drodunn Anduvann and Brunnwik the High Hammer, nodded to father Garret, heads also shaved, hammer and moons symbols of Vundren polished and in their hands as they stood next to Rosana.

  “How is she father?” Sir Leonard whispered to the esteemed young priest and scholar of the Aldane.

  “The baby has turned, it will be early. We need to find a place, a city, somewhere in which she can remain still for a time to deliver. Travel in this heat is not advisable in her condition.” Garret whispered back to Leonard as the stocky dwarven priests looked up to him and then to Rosana.

  “Freemoore be three days, Evermont the same. Not sure if your lord will wantin’ to be stoppin’ anywhere for long though.” Brunnwik whispered as well, smiling to Rosana, then took a deep breath in the warm tent.

  “Where is Cristoff? Where is Kaya? Ahhh…the pain….oooohhh, ahhh!” Rosana squirmed again, shooting a pleading glance to Garret and the knights.

  “My queen, Lord Bradswellen is with Marshall Tannek and Dalliunn, the lewirja. They are scouting ahead with a small platoon of men. Lady Kaya I have not seen this morn.” Sir Karai bowed.

  “She could not o’ gone far though, she be the one all beaten up, right?” Drodunn came closer to Rosana, grabbed the cloth, and took over the comforting duties.

  “Aye, heard she fell from a cliff or somethin’ she did. She likely won’t be regular again after that, I see her limpin’ abouts all over.” Brunnwik piped in, now next to the pregnant noblewoman as well, it was their turn to care for Rosana and give father Garret some rest.

  “I have been praying for her recovery and using Aldens grace of healing for nearly two turns of the moons, there are no visible injuries left. Yet she seems to still have pain and lack of motion---“

  The knights, the dwarves, even Rosana in pain as she was, turned to look as Kaya walked in the tent through the back flaps. She had a shortblade on her hip, tight black leather fitted with chain links, a dagger on her other side, and was barefoot. She looked up in early morning, expecting to see Rosana sleeping or under Garrrets care, who would then be occupied. Her slate blue eyes stared back at Karai, Leonard, Drodunn, Brunnwik, Garret, and Rosana.

  “Seems she don’t need more healing then.” Drodunn raised his eyebrows.

  “I would say no, it seems Lady Kaya moves just fine.” Leonard nodded to the woman who had but rested and limped the last two months since he had found her near dead below the cliffs.

  “Why are you armed, miss Kaya, if I may ask?” Sir Karai placed his hand slowly onto the hilt of his rapier, he noticed Leonard doing the same. Something was not right, he felt it.

  “Kaya?” Rosana, turning in slow difficult motions, positioned herself more comfortable and faced her recent companion in agony, who now stood fine it seemed.

  Kaya’s hand slid down slow to the shortblade at her side, instinct and reflex without thought, then she unbuckled the belt holding the sheath and set it on her bed in the tent.

  “I have always carried a blade, my upbringing in Chazzrynn was a bit different than yours, Rosana. I told you this.”

  “But you were limping just last night, I saw you, why---“

  “I am sorry, but it seems I had a bit of a following. I needed to know who they were and how many.” Kaya looked to the men, seeing their hands still resting on their hilts, then to Rosana.

  “Mind explaining that in detail, miss Kaya?” Sir Karai stared at her, he smelled treachery, he saw deceit.

  “I do.”

  “I must insist.”

  “I shall decline.”

  His rapier drew from its scabbard and he pointed it just as Kayas dagger went under his chin after two quick steps.

  “Assassin then, I suspected, you having been found outside Devonmir and---“

  She twisted the dagger to shut him up. She noticed the pull of a warhammer and an axe from the dwarves, another rapier across her neck from Sir Leonard, and father Garret held up his hands and Rosanas eyes went wide.

  “If I were an assassin, and any of you were my marks, I would have finished the job and left long ago. You are mistaken, knight of Harlaheim. I am here for the same reason you are.”

  “And that is what? Is your target Cristoff, lady Kaya?” Sir Karai spoke regardless of the blade at this throat.

  “No, that life no longer pertains to me. I seek to have a new beginning and a new life.” Kaya glared into his eyes, letting him know she was serious and none intimidated despite position and numbers.

  “This woman was found nearly dead, my brave knights, have faith we saved her for a reason.” Garret put his hand on Karai’s blade and gently eased it down.

  “Still, she should start speakin’ some truth here. Need to know her intentions.” Drodunn tapped his axe and waited patiently. The glare from father Garret got the dwarven priest to set his axe down behind him.

  “I feel the heat and travel is wearing on everyone here, please, keep calm.” Garret pleaded with present company.

  Kaya lowered her dagger just a bit, then saw the sudden tensing of muscles and glares from the men around her. She put the blade back up to the knights throat.

  “Not in my tent! Blades and such away, now! No one is on trial here, Cristoff is not present, so you will listen to me! Sit down, now.” Rosana yelled it, releasing a bit of her pain with the demands, and glared into the eyes of everyone present until they did as she ordered. Quietly, slowly, they all rested back and put their blades away, even Kaya T’Vellon.

  “Now, Kaya, please explain what is going on here?” Rosana pleaded with her eyes, but not in voice.

  “The heroic companions you are following west, I know who is, or was, trying to attain them.” She lowered her eyes from the stare of Karai.

  “Are you one of them?” Karai did not wait a moment to retort.

  “I was. I left that life and helped Saberrak escape from Devonmir, he was imprisoned in the arenas after slavers caught him outside of Bailey.”

  “And now?” Garret asked softly.

  “They will not cease their search, the White Spider that is, for they know of the riches that are supposedly where they are heading. And, they want me dead.”

  “Where we are heading as well.” Leonard added.

  “Is that who threw you from the cliff with the others? This white spider guild of assassins?” Karai needed to know, he had been worried that someone from Harlaheim would seek Cristoff
out for abandoning Saint Erinsburg. Richmond would likely send swords in the night.

  “No, they had me cornered, and I jumped.” Kaya heard the gasps of shock and disbelief, yet kept her focus to the ground.

  “And now they be followin’ ye’ to finish the job, eh?” Drodunn furrowed his brow and shook his head.

  “How many more will come? Will we be fighting off blades in our sleep for having you with us?”

  “No, Sir Leonard. I will make sure that does not happen.”

  “How? Until this morning, you seemed barely able to walk.”

  “My injuries have been healed for over weeks now. I know them, how they move, what to look for. I will spend every day and night making sure they do not follow, whatever it takes. But I want the same as you, to put my old life behind me and to have something better. Something worth serving and believing in, and I found it, just as Cristoff did. I was following the same people you are, for the same reasons.” Kaya felt the guilt of her life out in the open, she felt vulnerable, but she fought the tears that wanted to surface.

  “The brand of a spider on your shoulder, I saw it after Leonard found you. Do they all have this mark?” Garret looked to Kaya who was obviously struggling inside.

  “Yes.”

  “Is there anyone in the caravan that you suspect?” Rosana was worried now, her hand on her womb.

  “Not anymore.”

  “How many were there?”

  “Seven. They wanted me, no one else. They are two miles north, near a bluff by a small pond. Well, in it, I suppose is more accurate.” Kaya lowered her head now.

  “I will speak to them then, and order them to leave. You are under our protection, with us, and they had best understand.” Rosana nodded to Sir Karai who stood to do as the queen asked.

  “They will not have much to say, Rosana.”

  “They will, I assure you of that.” The queen raised her eyes.

  “They are dead.” Kaya hung her head, eyes to the grassy floor in the tent.

  “You killed seven men? Alone?”

  “Yes. They followed me, intent on raping me and killing me, then collecting the bounty on my head. Most, I would assume, think I am dead and it is best it remains that way. I had no choice.”

  “You always have a choice, lady Kaya.” Brunnwik spoke up, having stayed quiet the whole time.

  “And what would that have been, priest? Run, give up, let them kill me?” She wiped her eyes finally, feeling that her past would never leave her, trust would be hard earned for who she had been for so long.

  Brunnwik stood, strapped his hammer across his back, and walked up to the southern woman. He put his hand on her shoulder, then put his finger under her chin and lifted gently. He looked up into her blue eyes with his squinting browns.

  “Next time anyone threatens ye’, come and get me. We all be startin’ over here, all in exile, Vundren’s blessing we survive it. But, ye’ ain’t alone no more lass. Next time, get me and mine and we will surely help ye’ split some skulls.” Brunnwik nodded until Kaya nodded back.

  “Aye, no dwarf fears a spider o’ any color. Ye’ can count on me lady, any man wants to hurt a hair on yer head, just let me know.” Drodunn smacked his breastplate hard and nodded. “And me brother, Tannek, he’d tell ye’ the same.”

  “Same here lady Kaya. No more secrets. My blade is at your calling should you be in need, if I may ask the same of you.” Leonard bowed his head.

  “Agreed.” Kaya stood and took a deep breath.

  Garret looked to Sir Karai. “I believe her. What say you, Sir Karai?”

  “I have dealt with treachery and betrayals my entire knighthood in Harlaheim. I have rarely seen anyone turn from that path into anything worthy. Yet, my faith as a knight of the Order of Saint Tarumin will not allow me to believe in your survival as anything short of miraculous. So, you have my faith. But as my brother of the order stated, no more secrets. Our blades and words are one now, to wherever we are heading, and for whatever purpose.” Karai bowed his head to Kaya, receiving the same in return.

  “Very well. You see men, a bit of communication often takes care of everything. Now, I must eat and rest under the care of Vundren’s chosen while Alden’s chosen takes rest. Kaya, stay with me, if you would.” Rosana smiled as she dismissed the gathering from her tent.

  The men left the tent of the former queen, curious and with many questions, but knowing that they would have to wait for another time.

  “I assume you have things to ask me then?”

  “Yes.” Rosana grinned.

  “Where would you like me to begin?”

  “Names first, I suppose.”

  “Of who I have killed, who I worked for, or who---“

  “Names for the baby boy that is coming soon, Kaya. You are the only other woman I know out here, I cannot do this alone.”

  “I am not the sort, the type of woman, the---“

  “If something were to happen to me, I will need you to protect my son. It is not a request.”

  “Why me?”

  “What better woman here would you suggest should Harlaheim, Caberra, or anyone else come seeking me and mine?” Rosana squirmed, the child was moving, she felt warm blood trickle into the sheets again.

  “I think you are safe here, Rosana.”

  “Am I? Harlaheim, if they know I live, will want me and my son eliminated, as we would hold claim. You are likely not the only one being hunted on this journey, sister.”

  Kaya T’Vellon sighed, looking at the swollen Caberran woman on the white sheets, then resigned to her wishes with a smile.

  “Let us talk of names then, sister.”

  “A strong name, as I can feel he is mighty in his efforts to see the world.” She laughed, despite the pain, and held her hand out to Kaya.

  The once lady assassin held her hand. “Tell me of his father then, perhaps I can help if I knew more about him.”

  “His father is dead, murdered by King Richmond the Second of Harlaheim and his pet seneschal, Florin.” Her face went serious with memories she cared not to discuss in detail.

  “I am sorry, justice will be done eventually, I am certain. But try and tell me about him, before all of that. Why did you love him, what was his name, anything, everything.”

  Kaya knew of Florin, the Domenarch of Harlaheim for Johnas Valhera, yet kept that to herself. Without it being spoken, she could tell Rosana was fearful and alone.

  “Oh, Savanno Lisario, where shall I begin then. We met at a tourney in Caberra, I was perhaps fifteen then. Being the only princess of Caberra, I was much sought after. Cristoff was there, he too, fought for my hand.”

  Rosana squirmed, finding a comfortable position with this baby boy seemed impossible. She closed her eyes and thought back nearly two decades, remembering it all. Cristoff, Sulian, Savanno, Sir Rodreigo Dell Amarr, the knights that had challenged one another for her hand, and the man that had won it in secret. She held Kayas hand in hers, caressed her swollen belly, and smiled.

  “He was so honorable and strong at a young age, full of life and passion. His family was noble, but it was his eyes…”

  Exodus IV:II

  Temple Way

  Kaki Mountain Foothills

  Winds that never ceased nor slowed battered them more and more as they headed west. The horizon grew darker by the hour, even moreso during the day, and no sun nor either moon could be seen as more than a lighter spot in the rumbling gray that was the sky. Trees grew sideways from out of the ground, leaning east, roots to branches, centuries of this wind had formed an eerie realm of the unnatural. Cliffs and ledges, even small peaks were angled toward them, as if more warnings they held in silence. The sandstone ridge had what turned out to be an old road from ruined Estivar to somewhere west, it was marked in several places by leaning ancient signs as Temple Way.

  At night the winds had been but a peaceful breeze accompanied by constant light rain. Howls from creatures unseen, whispers that carried on farther than they should, and fla
shes of lightning without sound to follow corrupted their attempts to sleep. Unease set in, the five being relegated to a cavern in the Kaki Mountains for shelter brought back not too distant memories of their perilous starving entrapment in the Misathi. Despite an ease of travel without the bellowing gales, nearly no one wished to travel under the cloak of darkness in this haunted place. Almost no one.

  Shinayne looked to the snoring minotaur, James asleep beside him, and then to Gwenneth who was reading by arcane light in the cavern. Her meditation was impossible here, she felt many things, and none of them calm or soothing in the least. The highborn elf could not sense Lavress, in fact she had difficulty sensing anything beyond a few dozen feet in the last three days. Her senses did reveal that Azenairk was not sleeping at all, his mind was racing with curiosity and anxiety.

  “What is it Zen?” Shinayne sat next to him, nearly startling him upright. She looked down to the iron box in his hands.

  “Need to keep movin’ I think, wastin’ time tryin’ to sleep and all. I feel it, them voices tryin’ to talk to me or somethin’.” The dwarven priest sat up, placed the box into his pack, and rubbed his shaved head.

  “Not much to do until morning my friend. Just a few more hours and we can rouse the others.”

  “I can’t take it, all those noises are makin’ me mad in the head. I need to see what’s out there, Shinayne. Not a whole lot o’ difference between day and night here as it is.”

  “Just be patient, breath deep. Going out in the night is not wise.”

  “Sure about that? The storm is stronger during the day, makes it hard to see. I mean if yer frightened and all, tis allright I s’pose.” Zen smiled.

  Shinayne raised her eyebrows at him, not entirely certain of his meaning. “Are you suggesting we scout ahead, in the dark? What about the others? They are sleeping.”

  “Gwenneth can look after em’ better than we, she be up already anyhow. Come on elf, I need to see a bit closer is all. Just a few miles or so, then we come straight back. I won’t wear me armor, quiet, like you.”

  “This is a bad idea.”

  “Aye, thought ye’ be a bit scared. It is black as tar out there, all them noises---