DAWN OF THE PHOENIX

by A. J. STRICKLER

  K’xarr was livid. “You idiot, get back to your men and get there now. Havalon could attack in the morning and we have a city to defend, don’t you understand that?”

  Cromwell bowed low and swept his arm out in a grand fashion. “Of course, General, I hear and obey. Tell me, my lord, have you seen my comrade K’xarr anywhere? I need to find a man to drink with.”

  K’xarr’s hand balled into a fist and slammed it into Cromwell’s face, breaking his friend’s nose.

  The Toran staggered back and wiped the blood from under his nose with the back of his hand. “Oh wait, there he is now.”

  K’xarr looked at him perplexed. Cromwell grabbed him by his cuirass and slung the general across the throne room.

  K’xarr got to his feet and saw the giant Toran charging toward him. “Oh hell,” was all he got out. Cromwell hit him like a battering ram and both men landed in a heap on the floor, fists flying.

  “Enough, I yield,” K’xarr said. They locked eyes and both burst out laughing.

  “Let’s go get another bottle of wine and I’ll help you drink it,” K’xarr said.

  “You’re a hard man to talk into having a drink, General.” Cromwell grunted as he rose to his feet.

  He helped his friend up and they walked towards the great doors of the throne room. Both heard a commotion in the hallway and saw Rhys burst into the room. “The queen has been taken.” The healer held out his hand. In it was a black leather mask.

  The room was quiet; the crackling of the fireplace was the only sound. All the authority left in Turill had been brought to the council room. Everyone was just looking at one another, at a loss for what to do or say. K’xarr could see none of them had any idea what should be done about the queen.

  “Someone say something. I don’t have long to decide. Havalon is bringing his catapults into range and positioning his siege towers. Do any of you have any suggestions on what we should do?” K’xarr asked the silent table.

  “We have to go after her, there is no decision to make. We just have to find her as quickly as we can. We have already seen what that evil man is capable of,” Rhys said, giving Kian a brief glance. The half-elf had told them who the mask belonged to.

  K’xarr knew the healer was dead on his feet, they all were. Rhys’s feelings for Raygan would not allow him to be objective. The healer’s usually brilliant mind would be little help to him this time.

  K’xarr shook his head and gave the healer a stern look. “We all just can’t leave the city to search for the queen, Rhys. The weather is terrible and there is an army out there bent on taking Turill.” K’xarr gave Rhys a look of resignation. “We don’t even know where he has taken her.”

  Endra put her hands on her hips. “We damn well know where she is, that evil bastard took her right back to that tower of his. She’s in the Adorn. I would stake my life on it.”

  “Are we sure of that?” Bishop Lyfair asked.

  K’xarr nodded. “If I had to guess, I would have to agree with Endra, but we don’t know for sure. It would be a foolish to just charge off to the Adorn Forest without even knowing if she is there. It could cost us the city as well.”

  “I’m afraid someone must retrieve her. Without the queen, we might be in a bit of trouble here. Even if King Havalon is defeated, we could never hold the city without her. I hate to say it, General, but if the people find out she’s gone, you will have no authority. They will never listen to a foreigner without her backing. The people wouldn’t have it, and neither would the Church for that matter. The pope would order Prince Cain crowned king if his sister cannot be returned to us.”

  “I thought he was already claiming to be king?” K’xarr asked, puzzled.

  Lyfair chuckled. “Without the Church’s blessing, he cannot be king. Not in the eyes of God or the pope. Cain was never officially crowned, his sister was. According to Church law, she rules Bandara, no matter what her brother might think.”

  Cromwell was leaning back in a chair with his feet on the table. The Toran took a big draught of ale from a tankard that looked like it was made for a giant, and then he belched. “Who gives a stray dog’s ass what the Church thinks?”

  “Cromwell,” K’xarr bellowed, slamming his hand on the table.

  “What?” the big man said innocently.

  “What did I say?” K’xarr gave the Toran a look that could melt ice. “If you don’t have anything to add, then just be silent.”

  “I added no one cares what the Church thinks, that’s what I added,” Cromwell said with a grin.

  K’xarr gritted his teeth and started around the table toward Cromwell. The big man started to put his feet down and stand up to meet the general head on.

  Kian kicked the legs out from under Cromwell’s chair, sending the large man to the floor, his ale splashing up onto the table and all over the front of Bishop Lyfair.

  “Can’t we have a little decorum for once?” Lyfair said, exasperated.

  Cromwell lay on his back and looked up at the swordsman. “Why are you on his side? I know you don’t care about the Church either.”

  Kian looked down and offered his hand to the Toran. “No, but I do care about the queen.” He pulled Cromwell to his feet as Lyfair tried to dry his robe with his handkerchief.

  The Toran looked at K’xarr and shrugged. “I will be quiet unless I have something to add.” Cromwell sat back down, looking sheepishly at the others.

  Rufio had been lost in his own thoughts until Cromwell had hit the floor. The ruckus brought his mind back to the problem at hand. “We can’t spare any men to go get the queen, General. And I’m sorry, Rhys, but she might already be dead.”

  Rhys put his hand over his mouth and stepped away from the table. It was clear the healer hadn’t even considered the idea that Raygan might be dead.

  “You might be right, Rufio, but we are going to assume that she lives. I don’t know why the wizard would take her other than to help the Abberdonians. So we may also be facing sorcery on the battlefield now.” K’xarr looked at Kian. “The only other reason I can think of is revenge for what happened at the tower. It really doesn’t matter. Whatever the reason, we seem to have made an enemy.”

  The swordsman looked at K’xarr but said nothing and his expression didn’t betray his thoughts.

  Rufio faced his general. “What do we do, go find the queen or fight the Abberdonians?”

  His eyes were burning; he was tired and needed to get a little sleep. K’xarr knew Havalon was going to test their defenses soon and he wasn’t sure they could pass the test. He had to tell them now.

  The fact was he knew what he going to do two hours ago when Rhys showed them the mask. K’xarr wanted everyone to realize there were few options and comprehend the situation before he told them. It might help them to understand the predicament they were in, because they weren’t going to like what he was about to suggest. “Kian, will you go get her and bring her back?”

  Endra’s mouth dropped open. “You’re going to ask him to go back there?”

  “I am,” K’xarr said with a certainty that they had come to know all too well.

  “He’s not going alone,” Rhys said with resolve. “I won’t let Kian go alone, he might need me along the way and Raygan’s with child. Kian won’t know what to do if there are any problems.”

  Endra went over and stood by the healer. “I’m going too. If you want to try and stop me, General, go ahead.”

  “You three aren’t going to leave me out,” Cromwell chimed in.

  “I haven’t even heard Kian say he would go yet,” K’xarr said, looking at the swordsman.

  Kian faced the three volunteers. “I will go, if she is there I will bring her back, and I will go alone.” He stood up and walked out of the council chamber in silence.

  “Why, K’xarr? By the gods, why? You know what he suffered there, and how he has struggled to overcome it.” Endra put both hands on the table and locked eyes with the general.

  “When I watched Vandarus die
alone out in that damn snow today, I knew it was because I gave the order to close the gates.” K’xarr paused for a moment. He saw that bringing up their dead comrade was hurting Rufio, but he had to finish so he could make them grasp his point. “I swore then that if it was in my power, I would never leave a friend behind again. The queen and I aren’t sword-brothers, and I don’t know if I even like her, but she had faith in me--in us--when not many would. I will not leave her in the hands of that evil bastard. If I thought I could get her out, I would go alone, even if it meant my life. The simple truth is Kian is the only one who even has a chance to bring her back.”

  “It’s not going to mean your life, it’s going to mean his.” Endra angrily snatched her cloak off the back of her chair and stormed out.

  K’xarr knew she would never agree with his decision. She loved Kian too much to see it was the only choice he could make. “Rufio, Cromwell, go get some sleep. You too, Rhys, you look ready for the grave.”

  The healer shook his head. “I can’t.” He quickly walked out of the council chamber with his head down.

  Bishop Lyfair cleared his throat. “General, we will need to come up with a story to tell the servants and the people, when they notice they have not seen the queen. I suggest trouble with her pregnancy, perhaps we could say she has been ordered by her physician to rest and have no visitors?”

  K’xarr nodded. “That’s sounds good. Bishop, you can take care of keeping her abduction a secret.”

  “I will do my best, General.” The holy man made the sign of his God and departed the council chamber without further comment.

  K’xarr sat down in his chair. “Sometimes, I wonder why I ever wanted to command.”

  “That’s easy to answer, you’re too arrogant to listen to anyone else,” Cromwell said, slapping the Camiran on the back.

  Rufio walked over to where their leader sat. “I agree with what you said about Vandarus. I made the same promise to myself this morning.”

  K’xarr thought he could almost see the melancholy surrounding the Dragitan. Rufio and Vandarus had been close. The two had been traveling together even before they had joined the Birds of Prey. He stood and clapped Rufio on the shoulder. “Warriors must learn to live with their regrets, my friend. It is the life we have chosen.

  “I will see you two in a few hours at the north wall. I think we upset King Havalon enough, he will come straight at us in the morning.” K’xarr swung his cloak around his shoulders and started for the door.

  “Where are you going?” Cromwell asked.

  “To talk to the man I most likely just sent to his death.”

  “You’re not going without me, Kian, and that’s final. There’s no way you can do it alone. Just think, you’re going to try and get to the Adorn Forest in the dead of winter, deal with what might be in that cursed tower, and fight the wizard who tortured and all but killed you. Even if you’re successful and steal the queen away, you will then have to bring Raygan back, heavy with child, through the snow and ice on your own. Is that what you’re planning to do?” Endra folded her arms across her chest and gave Kian a look daring him to challenge her reasoning.

  “Yes,” he almost whispered.

  Endra dropped her arms to her sides and closed her eyes. Everyone who said K’xarr was the most infuriating man to argue with had obviously never argued with Kian, but she was not ready to give up yet. “The weather won’t bother me, the Bandaran winter is like spring in Sorrack, and even you need someone to watch your back.”

  “There is no one I would rather have with me than you, but this time I must go alone.”

  “Why, Kian? Just give me one reason.”

  “I’m afraid if I fail, you could fall into his hands and he might do to you what he has done to me or worse. I could not live with that.”

  “You expect me to live with what he might do to you?”

  He looked at her with resolve. “Yes, I do.”

  She sat down on her bed. “I don’t know if I can do that. I will stand at your side and if I’m killed, I will die without regret, but waiting at home while you’re out risking your life is not the kind of woman I am.” She thought of telling him about the baby, but that would only strengthen his argument. “I’m asking again, take me with you.”

  He turned, eyes flashing and voice deepening. “Not against the Dark One, he is my nightmare. If I don’t face him and face him alone, it will never be over.” He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. She felt the terrible strength he possessed. “I love you like no other, Endra, and I promise I always will. I never want to spend any day without you, but this is my fight and mine alone.”

  Endra saw the look in his eyes. She knew she wasn’t going to win. He wouldn’t let her. She hugged him, blinking back the tears. “Come back to me. I want you to promise me you will return.”

  “I promise.” He kissed her softly and walked out.

  Endra sat in silence. The night had suddenly grown very cold. “Be careful, my love,” she whispered to the empty room.

  K’xarr caught up to Kian as the swordsman walked out of the palace doors. “You’re leaving now?”

  Kian slung a bag of provisions, consisting mostly of dried meat and cheese, over his shoulder. “After the fighting starts tomorrow, it will be harder to get out of the city.”

  K’xarr saw he wore his leathers and heavy cloak and a pair of fur-lined boots. Besides his sack of provisions, he carried only his sword. “Traveling light? Are the rest of your things on your horse?”

  “I’m not taking a horse, it will slow me down.”

  “How is a horse going to be slower than you going on foot?” K’xarr scoffed.

  “The horse will need to rest a great deal with the weather like this, I will not.”

  K’xarr didn’t say anything, he understood. Kian’s constitution had become incredible since the Dark One had worked his magic on the half-elf. “How long do you think it will take to bring her back?”

  “With the weather like this, it may be spring before I return. She is with child, the going will be slow on the return trip.”

  K’xarr rubbed his beard. “Spring, I hope we are here by spring. If the city has been taken when you get back, do what you think best.”

  Kian looked at his feet. “You sound like there is no question that I will be successful.” K’xarr watched the swordsman slowly raise his head and look him in the eye. Kian’s eyes looked black in the darkness. “K’xarr, I’m not invincible or immortal, and in truth I don’t even know if I can get to the tower. You put too much faith in me.”

  The general pulled his cloak tighter around him, the wind was getting stronger. “I know I’m asking the impossible, don’t think I don’t know the risks. You’re the only chance the girl has, Kian. She is little more than a child, all alone with a monster. You’re the man who can stop him, the only man.”

  The general could tell his speech had done the trick. He could tell by the swordsman’s face that he had struck Kian’s soft heart a blow and brought out his sense of honor, a young girl the prisoner of a vile wizard. K’xarr knew Kian lived to plunge headlong into that kind of thing. It was just his nature.

  “I will not let him have her, I can promise you that,” Kian said with conviction.

  The general sighed, that was just what he wanted to hear. Still, he felt bad manipulating the half-elf. “I know you won’t.”

  K’xarr took Kian’s arm in a warrior’s grip. “Good luck, my friend.”

  Kian started down the steps then stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “Watch over Endra and the children for me.”

  “Done,” the general replied. He watched Kian disappear into the falling snow.

  K’xarr stood awhile on the marble steps of the palace. He felt like an ass sending Kian off alone on a mission that was near hopeless. There was no second guessing now, it was done. He hated it though, because he knew when Havalon attacked in the morning, he would miss the half-elf’s sword arm.

  The sun was
starting to rise as he passed the Abberdonian forces. The sentries he had killed never even heard him coming. Now he was in the open farmland of Bandara. The snow made the going hard, but his legs were strong. Kian was just glad the wind had died down a little.

  Why had he agreed to go on this mad quest? The queen thought little of him. He was, in her words, a monster. It didn’t matter to him how she felt. The young woman was an innocent and he would save her if he could. Gildor had taught him to always fight the darkness. Could a monster fight evil? He would soon see.

  K’xarr was counting on him and so was Rhys, and he owed both men a great deal. He would do his best to bring the queen home for them.

  Kian stopped and looked out over the landscape. The virgin snow stretched out before him like an endless white sea. The Adorn Forest was hundreds of miles to the north. He would have to face the unforgiving weather to rescue the queen and help his friends. He looked up at the dismal grey sky and his thoughts turned to the man who had nearly destroyed him. The wizard had to die. Was he on a heroic quest to save a young queen, or was his valiant crusade truly about his own revenge? Was he just a monster after all, seeking his own retribution? Kian gritted his teeth and ran on through the frozen countryside, moving faster through the snow than a horse ever could.

  The catapults began firing an hour after sunrise; King Havalon’s crews were good, it took little time for them to find the range of the city’s wall. The huge rocks that hit the wall shook the foundation itself. A few even smashed into the battlements, doing a lot of damage to the merlons on top of the wall and K’xarr’s men.

  The archers came next, and they used flaming arrows. Only a few men were hit, but the arrows started countless small fires among the buildings below the northern wall.

  Endra knew that was where the wounded were being housed. She wanted to help Rhys and the town’s people fight the fires, but K’xarr had ordered her to stay on the wall. This time Kian wouldn’t be there to watch her back. She put her helmet on and drew her sword as the siege towers began to roll forward.