The Emperor's Shadow War (Tales of Alus Book 2)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Hitting the knot of orcs as quickly as possible, Dante leapt into their midst and fell to the ground to play dead. The orcs nearest him had no idea who had killed him and would have made sure of his death had not the trolls been just behind the man. The monstrous beasts howled at the loss of their quarry and, in their rage, began taking swipes at the orcs they believed to have been the man’s killers. The orcs took offense to that and fought back, however, being valiant creatures in their own way.

  Goblins leaped in to try and stop the feud from spreading, but soon the frenzy seemed to turn in upon the enemy army. Orcs began fighting trolls and trolls struck at anything that moved. The goblins were harassed by both and tried just to fight their way free.

  In the midst of it all, Dante crawled beneath the safety of a wagon and lay there with his weapons ready, though after panting initially, he pretended to be dead enough to avoid notice. Finally, he spotted the first of the city's defenders. The men fought in the crimson of their city's guardsmen and fought well. The fight between the races stalled as they realized that another enemy had joined to attack them, but the losses had already been suffered.

  The dark enemy began to flee before the men of Kalmer and Dante rose to join in the pursuit.

  "Dante!" the voice of Valenia called to him.

  The Certen warrior stood around a fire of burning corpses with several of the soldiers of Kalmer. With the light of dawn licking the edges of the sky to remind him that the long night was almost over, Dante could finally relax. The men that he had been talking with separated to go to their various duties, and, as the captain came running towards him, Dante found he was nearly alone.

  "Hello, Valenia," he greeted before sipping from a hot mug of coffale that had been given him by one of the soldiers. Dante stood trying to be nonchalant before his lover.

  The woman looked around as she came upon him and, noticing no one was around to watch, the captain felt free to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him passionately. Dante nearly spilled all the coffale.

  "I was so worried about you when Warik came out alone to find us. What happened to you?"

  "I caused as much trouble as I could," laughed the man as he hugged the beauty back.

  "This had to be one of the strangest battles that I have ever witnessed, Dante. One minute I could see the men of Kalmer fighting with no hope of defeating the monsters and the next it was as if the dark ones were fighting themselves. Could you tell what happened from inside?"

  Unable to stop from laughing, Dante left Valenia confused. The woman looked at him, first in anger, and then laughed cautiously with him as the man finally said, "I'm afraid that I happened," he finally choked out.

  "You? What could you have done?" her laughter faded momentarily as she asked her questions of him still eyeing the laughing man suspiciously.

  "I was running for my life in the middle of the enemy when a band of those huge hairy things took up the chase. They didn't care what they killed as they tried to catch me. I suddenly realized that, if one of the other races looked as if it had killed me instead, the trolls might be angry enough to attack their allies, which they did. All I was trying to do was shake the monsters, I never expected the whole camp of them to start fighting amongst themselves, but that seems to be what they did."

  Valenia's eyes began to sparkle just before she started to laugh again. "I told you once before that you were the harder one to get along with, but I never realized..."

  Laughing even harder at the idea, he noticed the rest of their command coming towards them. Corporal Warik and Sergeant Lane were in the lead and came to share their relief at his safety. Gannon came along to bring up the rear of their number and seemed to be listening for his cue to join in.

  They were speaking again of the strangeness of the fight amongst the enemy. The seer broke in and replied to their questions, "You see one of the flaws of this union of monsters. When they get further from their master's iron fist, they tend to let their natural instincts come to the fore. In this case, I think that we can see that they do not really like each other."

  "Well, that does seem obvious, seer," Calla retorted bluntly. "But why do they work together, if they hate each other so much?"

  Gannon shrugged his shoulders, "I do not know the Dark Emperor or his ways, but my guess is that he tends to demand that all obey him. He seems to be a dictator that rules with an iron fist. If that means putting aside hostility towards one race or another, I expect that he knows that they fear his wrath enough to obey."

  "Do you know what this Dark Emperor is, Gannon? I doubt that it could be a simple man," Dante asked of the seer.

  Again he shrugged, but replied, "If I knew what this being was I could not tell you anyway, but, since I don't, I'll just say that none of my sect has spoken of such knowledge. Perhaps the Emperor has the power to block such sights even from Visionaries."

  "You know nothing of him, yet you know his name and many of his plans," Valenia stated. "How can this be? If he can hide himself from you, why can he not hide the rest as well?"

  The seer smiled and seemed unwilling to answer.

  Dante answered instead, "He can not hide his actions or his minions when they affect so many, Valenia. His appearance or his exact mind is specific and more easily hid I would guess."

  Nodding, Gannon added, "I am impressed, lieutenant. That is what our councils deduced after trying to focus on the being known as the Dark Emperor. You picked up on it quickly."

  Dante shook his head, "It's just another tactic. War has many such artifices that get used. This Emperor may be just leaking out the other information to act as a diversion for its true intent and focus. Look at his tactics of shadow warfare as we've already beheld. This Emperor deserves a title including Dark in it, if only to describe his methods."

  Gannon smiled, "You, sir, seem to be developing a talent for divining truth. If no one has any objections, perhaps we should get moving again?" the man added changing the subject.

  Dante shook his head, "The captain of the guard at Kalmer has extended to us, at his lord's request; that we stay at the fortress for a night's rest. I accepted his invitation and only waited to tell all of you this opportunity. We can leave on the morrow, unless the seer knows of a reason that we should continue onward today?"

  "None, lieutenant," Gannon replied. "I think that perhaps you are right. No one slept during the night and we would have needed to stop soon anyway. We might as well enjoy the comfort that the lord of Kalmer has extended to us."

  With that settled, Dante led the band back towards the city. As they entered and the population realized who he was, they extended a welcome to him as to one of their greatest heroes. Dante was flattered and waved to show that he appreciated their attempts to honor him. He had merely done his best and felt overwhelmed by such attention though. It was his job to fight and such a fuss seemed unwarranted.

  When they finally reached the outer gate of the central fortress and escaped the crowds, Dante breathed a sigh of relief. The soldiers still found more admirers and the grateful, but soon members of Kalmer’s guards came to lead them to a place where they could rest.

  Chapter 26- Darius

  Darkness lay at the edges of the firelight and that was where Darius kept letting his gaze drift. Sounds of the wildlife of the Great Forest could be heard intermittently as well as the continuous sound of the Divide rushing along just out of sight of their encampment. The wizard sighed.

  "What's going on, Darius?" Tate asked as he strolled over to visit with his much depressed friend. "You still thinking of Marich's death? It was just as much his choice to try and kill you as you were defending yourself that killed the man, you know?"

  Darius nodded, "I guess that's why I'm so moody. His death has also brought a lot of other things to worry about unfortunately."

  "The slaves that you freed?"

  "Their safety is in my hands now and I'm unsure of what to do about that. Most of them have nowhere to go and I would hardly wish to set
them back into the slavery that I've freed them from, but I wonder if following us will be any better for them." Flinging a small stone into the gently flowing water, the wizard watched its path with only part of his attention. It skipped merrily along creating ripples with each touch as he watched it in the moon's light.

  "How so, do you think?"

  Unable to look his friend in the eye, Darius asked, "I wonder if life alongside my path wouldn't be just as much enslavement and certainly it’s been risky of late. Bagheer and the women are all looking at me like I'm their master or something."

  "Listen to yourself," the apprentice chided as he cut off anymore talk. "These people have the freedom to walk away whenever they want to, don't they? Steis will take his leave in Enswere and Ouria might return home on the way north as well. The others can leave if they wish and if they don't they'll earn their keep like the rest of us. What is there to be worried about or ashamed of, huh?" Tate stopped to look for a response from his friend and waited for Darius to look up to check the wizard's thoughts. "I can see it in your eyes, Darius."

  "See what?" Darius questioned unhappily.

  "They're not the real problem, are they?" Tate lowered his voice and slipped closer to ask, "It's Electra that you are really worrying about, right?"

  "What do you mean?" he asked guardedly.

  "Oh, come on now! You've been bitten so deep a blind man could see that you've fallen in love with the elf woman. Do you think that you can hide your feelings from your best friend of all people?"

  Shaking his head, Darius replied, "No, I guess not. I'm more worried about Matalchus and Janus regarding the matter and, of course, there's the possibility that she doesn't feel the same way."

  Tate laughed loudly in disbelief, "You know that she's fallen just as hard as you and I wouldn't worry about the others. Janus would do nothing to interfere with Electra's life, at least not anymore where you're concerned. Matalchus won’t do anything either, I would hazard a bet. You are his peer now, not some little apprentice that he can bully around." Tate stood and finished, "Your life is your own now, Dar. No one can tell you what to do with it but you. Not Matalchus or Janus and certainly not me, but you may want to discuss this with Electra since it does concern her as well, you know?"

  "You talk too much," Darius groaned and watched the apprentice walk off.

  Looking up, Darius could see the red moon of Turas shining down into the clearing. The blood light cast down and seemed to change the look of the forest around him. The wizard stood and walked out into the dark alongside the river. He found the water changing quickly beneath the moons and watched as the sparkles of silver and red cast by the two moon gods fought within the flow of the river. He watched in silence and tried to gain peace within himself.

  The killing of Marich was bothering him despite Tate’s opinion. Thinking of all the trolls and goblins that he had killed without worrying because they were not human also rose into his mind. Darius had always thought of himself as a man of peace, but here he was slaying dark beasts and men in a search for a weapon to end the threat of the Dark Emperor. Why? What had happened to change his outlook so much that even Electra had talked of the changes within him?

  A splash from around the slight bend of the river caught his attention. Darius held the magic near, but hoped that it would be a false alarm. They were still very near the city and maybe robbers had come after seeing their departure. Rounding a thicket of bushes, he spied the source of the disruption.

  "Come on in, Darius," Electra called at his appearance. The pretty elf woman smiled and even in the night's dimness, he could tell that it was a broad smile.

  The man started to step back into the forest not wanting to intrude despite the woman's invitation.

  "Wait! Where are you going?" He heard several more splashes and turned to see the woman wading back out of the water. "I asked if you would like to join me. Is something the matter?"

  "That would be going too fast for me, I'm afraid," Darius called back and considered returning to the safety of the campfire. Had he known that someone else had remained away from the camp; Darius would not have come so near a bathing spot. Actually, the man amended in his mind, if he had known Electra in particular was still bathing after having already had dinner there was no way he would have left camp.

  Electra ran up to him as she cleared the water. "What is too fast?" the woman asked sounding genuinely confused. "All I asked was if you would come swim with me? I thought that we could talk."

  Shyly, the man continued to keep his face averted from looking at her nude form. "It's too cold for swimming," he said looking for an excuse to bolt.

  "Why won't you look at me?" her voice asked softly. "Have I done something to offend you? Did I offend you by my false pretenses with Janus? I thought that you had accepted my apology on that matter and considered me a friend again."

  "I am your friend and don't hold anything against you," the wizard said waving her away while trying to think of a way to escape.

  "Then why do you not look at me?" her voice asked sounding worried.

  With no reason to lie, Darius exclaimed, "Because you are naked. I know you to be a private woman and would not dishonor you by taking advantage of the sight."

  "Dishonor me?" Electra questioned him with genuine confusion. "What is wrong with seeing a good friend this way? Among my people there is no shame in being together for a swim. In fact, it shows that there are no falsehoods between friends. Do your people see things differently?"

  "Yes!" he stated stronger than he had meant.

  "Then wait a moment, please," she pleaded and stepped away to the shore before asking. "Is this all right?"

  He turned to see her with a large blanket draped over her shoulders. The garment covered to just above her knees and he nodded his assent.

  "Good, then sit with me, Darius." The woman sat letting the blanket come open to reveal her legs, but the rest of her still remained closed to him.

  A strange sense of loss came over him and the man cursed himself for his hypocrisy. Yes, like any red blooded man, Darius wished that he could see her in all her glory despite what was said. Darius knew that Tate's words had been true. He was falling in love with Electra and only his weakening willpower kept him from saying so to the beautiful woman. Her people may not cherish the openness of such gestures, but he worked from a frame of mind that did. He preferred waiting for love to let another know such things about him.

  Electra looked at him with a tilt of her head. "Why do you fear being intimate with me? I notice that Tate can be given your deepest of thoughts but, though I have tried, still you shut me out. Is it wrong that I want such things among your people?"

  "To know my thoughts? Why would you want to know those?" the wizard asked and tried to laugh off the statement. It came weakly to his ears and he stopped.

  Her eyes revealed hurt at his words. The moonlight framed her face from the silvery light reflecting off her blonde curls. Darius had to look away to the river to steady himself.

  "I..." she started, but could not seem to find the words to go on.

  "In my world," Darius began as he stared at the sparkling Taltan, "only a few people are given another's thoughts in confidence, a best friend like Tate or a wife. I think that, even with his parents, a child can not fully reveal himself." He turned back to her eyes fleetingly and finished, "I would share my thoughts with you even still, if..."

  Electra seemed to understand his faltering speech. The elf woman slid forward leaving the blanket to fall behind her to the ground. Darius couldn't help but stare at her assets revealed, the petite figure visible in the moonlight until her arms encircled themselves around his neck. Tilting her head to one side and he the other, they kissed long and hard. They wrapped their arms about one another to embrace strongly.

  After several moments, Electra sat back on her heals where Darius fought to not stare at her body. She smiled. "Your people have strange customs," the woman stated, "but I think that I would like
to be one of those... what did you call them, `wives'? What is a wife anyway?"

  The wizard laughed quietly. "A wife is the woman who vows to remain with a certain man for life. Are you still sure that you want to be one of those?"

  Electra looked down briefly and Darius thought that she would retract her statement. A little smile tilted the corners of her mouth and a quick shake of her head as she replied, "No, if that meant that I would have to be with you for that time and have you look at me the way you fight with yourself not to now, then I think that I would like that."

  "What?" he asked surprised. "That's a major step for my people and I don't think that you understand it."

  She shrugged and leaned towards him again. "My people do things for love all the time. It is not as hard as your people seem to think." Electra kissed him again.

  "But..." he mumbled from beneath her lips.

  The woman forced him backwards and he let himself comply. He wanted this as much as Electra and no longer cared about the consequences.

  The faint rays of early morning awoke Darius from where he lay beside Electra wrapped in her blanket. They had not been disturbed all night and the wizard realized that only he had not known what would happen the previous evening. Still, he did not want the others coming down to the water to find them this way. Finding his breeches and boots, Darius moved to the river to splash water on his face to fully awaken. He turned and found the blanket offered to him like a towel.

  "Good morning," Darius greeted Electra with no other words coming to mind.

  The woman smiled at him and shook her head slightly. Leaning into Darius, Electra slid against his body and drew out a kiss from him. "That is what you meant is it not?" she laughed with a quiet giggle.

  Holding onto her lithe form, Darius could only nod back. The man wished that he could hold onto her forever and that nothing would interrupt them, but that was a silly notion. With another kiss, he moved to gather his tunic and belt.