The Inner Seas Kingdoms: 03 - Road of Shadows

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “They looked like beautiful legs, yet I really didn’t pay them the attention they deserve, with all the other distractions of the moment,” he grinned at her, and let his hand run up and down her hip and waist for a moment.

  She rose up and kissed him soundly.

  “We’ll wait here until sundown if we can,” Kestrel decided. “Then we’ll find a way out of the city.” They settled in to their spot, taking turns trying to rest while keeping watch.

  “How far is it to the Eastern Forest?” Moorin asked when the shadows started to stretch out across the courtyard, as the sun began to drop towards the horizon.

  “I think we can get there in two days,” Kestrel answered. “We can run all night, and then rest during the days.”

  “And then I can take off this stupid hat!” Moorin said emphatically.

  “Yes, then you can take off the hat,” Kestrel agreed, even as he wondered whether the two of them would ironically face the anti-human prejudices he knew existed among the Eastern elves. They wouldn’t once they reached his manor, he felt comfortable in knowing that there would be that island of civility for Moorin, though it struck him as unbelievable to think that he was the lord of a manor.

  Moorin lazily stroked her hand along his back as they sat silently, until the last traces of sunlight began to fade from the sky and the stars overhead came into view. “Let’s go up to the rooftop,” Kestrel suggested. “We can leap from roof to roof and not be seen until we get to the city walls,” he proposed.

  “Have you done this before? That’s a brilliant idea!” Moorin praised him. “I never would have thought of that – or is it something you’ve had to do to reach all those girls your sprite friend mentioned?”

  Kestrel laughed at the notion. “No, it has nothing to do with girls. I’m just trying to find the way we can move around unseen in the city,” he answered, rising from the sunken stairwell to lead the way into the building above them. They climbed a staircase that gave them access to the roof top, and they stopped to stare at the dim red glow of the sunset on the western horizon.

  “We’ll go this way, east,” Kestrel motioned in the opposite direction.

  “And someday, we’ll go north, won’t we? Someday soon, you’ll go north with me, and you’ll ask my father for my hand in marriage?” Moorin asked.

  “Someday,” Kestrel agreed cautiously. “I don’t know when, but someday as soon as possible,” whenever the other duties and responsibilities and needs allowed them to, he told himself.

  With that, they began jogging across rooftops, leaping above alleyways with ease, occasionally running to jump across wider streets, or rerouting themselves with detours to get around the streets that were too great in width to hurdle.

  After a half hour, they reached the last set of buildings that faced the eastern wall of the city. A road on the interior side of the wall separated them from their leap onto narrow walkway atop the wall. A pair of guards was patrolling along the wall top, and Kestrel crouched down to avoid detection.

  “As soon as they pass, we can make the leap,” he turned to tell Moorin, then found to his shock that she was nowhere in sight.

  “Moorin!” he whispered loudly, looking around at the flat rooftop. There were two chimneys, and the raised hatch that provided roof access from the interior of the building, but he didn’t see his companion anywhere.

  He ran in a crouching posture back to the far side of the building, looking to see if Moorin had gone backwards for some reason, perhaps to pick up some dropped item, but as he looked across the alley way, a squad of soldiers suddenly rose up from behind the parapet of the building, and pointed their bows at him. At the same moment, the hatch on his roof exploded upward, and another squad of Hydrotaz soldiers boiled upward.

  Stunned, Kestrel stood still, frozen in indecision. He had to escape, but he couldn’t leave Moorin behind. He had to find and rescue her, but he had no idea where she was, or why she had left him.

  He looked at the soldiers on the far roof, and saw their arms suddenly pull back in unison. Knowing that they were about to release their volley of arrows, he ducked down and laid flat on the roof, as the deadly wooden shafts immediately passed above him, and struck the other squad that was coming to seize him. Confusion erupted among his adversaries, and he rose to his feet and sprinted straight ahead, leaping to the top of the roof of the next house to the left. He crossed that roof and leaped up to the taller roof of the next building over, then pulled himself up and continued across to the next roof. He turned back towards the center of town, losing the shouts of the soldiers behind him as they failed to keep up.

  Five minutes later, finally feeling temporarily safe in a different quarter of the city, Kestrel sat back against a chimney to catch his breath, while he tried to understand what had happened. Moorin had disappeared, and he had no idea how, why, or where. He hadn’t heard or seen anything to offer a clue, which seemed impossible.

  And somehow the Hydrotaz guard had followed them across the city and trapped him on a roof top. That too seemed impossible.

  Chapter 17 – Revelation in Hydrotaz

  “Oh Kai, what should I do?” he asked quietly, stymied and distraught.

  Come to my house, Kestrel, a voice whispered in the air. Return what was lent, and learn what is false.

  Kestrel looked around at the empty rooftop. There was no one present, no indication that he had any company. But the voice had been real, and recognizable. It had been the goddess, speaking to him.

  “Return what was lent; learn what is false,” Kestrel muttered the words to himself. They were the muddled, amorphous words of divine prophecy, and he wasn’t sure what they meant. But he had faith in his goddess, who had done so much for him, expected so much from him, and even in her reduced state still spoke to him. He stood, and began his journey across the roof tops, heading back towards the center of town.

  When he reached the main square of the city, he knew he had to return to street level. The boulevards that led to the square created canyons that gaped too widely for him to vault across, so he carefully descended the stairs of the building, and cautiously crept to the main doorway. From there he stared out across the expanse of the square, at the strollers and gawkers who chatted as they walked. It seemed peaceful enough that he should be able to just step out and casually walk across the open expanse of cobblestones unnoticed and unmolested; but he reminded himself of the inexplicable appearance of the soldiers on the rooftop, and he hesitated to emerge from cover.

  He was going to the ruins of Kai’s temple. He hoped that within the broken shell of the building the goddess would have more power, more energy to receive him, aid him, and comfort him. He had speculated about returning to the goddess the gifts she had given him, and he was ready to do so now, especially if the restoration of her power would allow her to lead him to rescue Moorin, and to get the two of them safely out of Hydrotaz.

  He took a deep breath, then stepped out into the cooling spring evening, and started to calmly walk among the other inhabitants of the square. To his left he saw the Golden Seat, looking serene and untouched by violence. As he approached the far side of square, nearing the entrance to the road that led to Kia’s temple and the palace, he heard a faint sound, one that he recognized, and he sprang to his right, diving towards the hard pavement as he heard an iron-tipped arrow strike the plaza. He saw sparks fly from the impact, and then the arrow skidded past him atop the stony surface.

  With a grunt, Kestrel pressed himself up and forward, shooting from the cobblestones like a sprinter leaving the blocks, and he began to bolt down the street in front of him. There were shouts from the plaza, and he heard the thunder of many pairs of boots start racing after him.

  A man walking towards him on the street suddenly fell, an unintended victim of the hunt for Kestrel, with a misguided arrow in his chest, and Kestrel crouched down low to try to minimize the amount of target area he offered. He dodged to one side of the street, circled behind a donkey cart, then m
oved to the other side of the roadway as he continued his flight in the dim street.

  The broken stones of the temple to Kai appeared on his right. As he continued to sprint forward, Kestrel waited until he reached the temple, then suddenly sprang up among the rubble, hopped into a partially exposed room, then scampered out of view of the street as he entered a still-intact interior hallway.

  He was breathing heavily, and unable to see any details of the space around him as he stopped and leaned against a wall.

  Come to the sanctum, Kai whispered, her voice louder than before.

  Kestrel looked around, and saw a faint spark down the hallway to his right. With one last deep breath, he pushed away from the smooth surface of the wall and began to walk towards the light. When he cut the distance in half, the light began to move. And as he continued to follow, he began to hear sounds, making him realize that his pursuers had entered the ruined temple as well, and were beginning their search for him.

  The light disappeared around a corner, and as he followed, the light turned another corner, then descended a narrow, steep set of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs the light suddenly vanished, and Kestrel realized that he could see faint flickers of light being cast by burning torches amidst the ruins.

  “Help me, Kestrel,” he froze in shock, as he heard Moorin’s voice faintly call. He stepped to the doorway and stood there, staring out, transfixed and anguished at the sight unveiled for him.

  Moorin was tied to a large stake, one that stood high, holding her upright above a large squad of soldiers who were gathered together in the middle of the clear, undisturbed portion of the sanctum in the middle of the temple building. Moorin was naked, and her body showed bruises and bloody welts, signs of terrible abuse.

  “You can come surrender peacefully, or you can continue to skulk and hide,” a large, beetle-browed officer said as he stepped out in front of the soldiers. “If you surrender, she will die a quick and merciful death. If you don’t, we will play with her until her screams haunt this ruin forever, and we will still find you and capture you so that we can do the same to you.”

  “Kestrel, please,” Moorin tried to plead, but couldn’t finish her sentence.

  Kestrel felt the tears start to fall from his own eyes. He edged into the open space, and began to circle cautiously towards his left.

  “Don’t play like a child,” the officer said. “Come straight to me. There are no games to be played now.”

  Kestrel continued to move cautiously to his left, and saw that a pair of guards detached from the rest of the gathered soldiers, and began to move to cut off his path. He stopped as he reached a large cut block of stone, the altar that was wrapped in carved likenesses of Kai, with waving approximations of wind blowing and storms wreaking damage.

  “She’s not like that. She nurtures more than destroys,” Kestrel said softly as he looked at the mischaracterization of his goddess. He laid his staff upon the altar, and then took his knife off his hip and placed it there as well. Finally, he removed his ring, and the guards who could see him clearly gasped as his appearance changed, and he resumed his own partially-elven visage.

  “I give these back to you Kai, my goddess. I thank you for the use of these gifts and your powers. Please help me to do what is best for Moorin,” he prayed, then closed his eyes and bowed his head.

  After a moment of silence, the officer spoke. “What a touching tableau; an offering of no value to a goddess with no power,” he mockingly said.

  And at that moment, a great bolt of lightning fell from the sky overhead and struck the officer dead. The items that Kestrel had placed on the altar began to glow, growing brighter and brighter, until they were difficult to distinguish in the glare of the brilliant illumination they cast in all directions. The brilliance began to rise above the objects, and floated up to a spot several feet above the altar, as all eyes stared in astonishment, some in fear, Kestrel’s with hope.

  The light changed from a globe to a cylinder and then suddenly took on the shape of a woman, and Kestrel knew that Kai had come back.

  “Kestrel, your service and your sacrifice are noteworthy, and are commendable from your goddess. Those soldiers in this temple who wish to remain alive, and wish to return to my good graces, shall pledge their loyalty to you, as my chosen champion,” Kai spoke in a thunderous voice.

  “One thing you need not sacrifice is your beloved,” Kai said. The goddess raised her arm and pointed at Moorin. The ropes that held the girl tied to the post burst apart, and Moorin slid down to the ground, landing on her feet.

  “This is not your beloved. It is an imposter, and has been since the day you first took her under your protection. Behold the true face of your enemy,” Kai pointed her finger again, and a brilliant light illuminated Moorin.

  Kestrel watched in astonishment as Moorin suddenly began to violently shiver and shake, before her face and body began an incomprehensible metamorphosis. The skin grew darker and scaly, while the hair shriveled away. The face became a snout and beady eyes, while the legs shortened and the body lengthened. Within moments Kestrel was looking at the same creature he had seen in the cave on Albanu, the same type of monster that had impersonated Moorin in that distant land.

  “Do you like what you see?” the creature asked mockingly.

  “What are you?” Kestrel asked in astonishment, anger, and fear, as the guards who stood around the scene scrambled away in shock. Kestrel picked up his staff from the altar and advanced slowly towards the monster.

  “I am the next stage of the Viathin race. I am what we all seek to become. As we draw more energy away from your people and your lands and your gods, we are changing and growing to this form. And in this form, once we are done raping your land, we will move through the portals to our next appointment,” the monster said. He stepped toward Kestrel, then stooped and picked up the sword of the dead officer.

  “You may have surprised and beaten one of us, but I am ready for you, I am stronger, and you no longer possess the powers of your dwindling goddess,” the Viathin motioned towards where Kai hung in the air above the sanctum, noticeably smaller in size and dimmer in brightness. “Come let me take the rest of your energy, and save it for when the day comes that I can ravish the real Moorin in your name.”

  The monster momentarily flickered its appearance to shapeshift into Kestrel’s own visage, then returned to its own appearance, and laughed a hearty laugh.

  And with that, Kestrel charged at the monster and began the battle.

  Kestrel swung his staff low, trying to knock the feet out from underneath the Viathin.

  The monster leapt over the moving attack and swung its sword at Kestrel’s chest, forcing the elf to flip himself backwards to avoid being cut. Kestrel responded by poking the staff at the Viathin’s midriff, then raised the end of his staff to block another swift swipe of the sword.

  The Viathin’s stroke was hard, intended to kill, and it struck the staff with such violence that Kestrel felt the wood start to splinter. He hastily pulled his staff back, then stood in a defensive crouch. The monster laughed, and swung a backhanded attack full of force; Kestrel blocked it too, but his staff broke in two from the stress, and suddenly Kestrel held a shortened piece of timber in each hand.

  When the monster attacked with its sword again, Kestrel surprised it by jumping straight upwards, using his elven strength and light body build to vault over the Viathin and come down behind it, and as he did, Kestrel stabbed the jagged end of his broken staff into the neck of the creature, then twisted savagely as he pressed hard against the flesh. He tore open a vein, and black, oily blood oozed out and down the shoulder of the Viathin as the monster silently collapsed to the ground, and an insubstantial beam of light briefly moved from the body towards Kai.

  Kestrel shook his hand violently, as he felt his flesh burning with pain from scattered drops of the Viathin blood that had landed upon him. At the same time the goddess Kai suddenly flared into a renewed brightness.

  “A
ll of you,” Kestrel said, looking out at the score of soldiers who had watched the horrifying chain of events, “Bow down to Kai, and worship her as your goddess,” he commanded.

  As one, the soldiers all fell to their knees, and so did Kestrel.

  “Goddess mother, thank you,” Kestrel began to cry. “I’m so sorry to have been a fool, a gullible fool.”

  “You’re no fool, Kestrel. You’re a great champion. You’ve been my champion in battles in Estone and Graylee and now here in Hydrotaz. You’ve been Kere’s champion in Center Trunk, and you’ve been the champion of Robaske, in Albanu. There is greatness within you, Kestrel, and we give you thanks for the loyalty you have given us,” the goddess spoke as she floated still above the sanctum.

  “These soldiers are now your humans, and as long as they remain loyal to you, their souls will remain free from the influence of the Viathins,” Kai pronounced. “Is there any soldier here who will not be a warrior for Kestrel, who will not help him fight the Viathins in order to preserve humanity? If so, let him leave at once.”

  No one moved, and all eyes were on Kestrel.

  “Goddess, what should I do?” Kestrel asked plaintively.

  “You know what to do,” Kai said in an almost dismissive tone. “Now, go out into the city and begin to restore our people to freedom from the evil that controls them.” And with that, the bright figure flared into an unbearable luminescence, and then disappeared.

  “By the power of the gods, that was astounding!” Kestrel heard a voice exclaim, and he turned to see a sergeant standing in front of the squad of soldiers in the temple. “The goddess is alive, and she named you as her champion! Who would have imagined that? And you’ve fought for her before, her and other gods? An elf? An elf fighting for humans?!”

  “Part elf, part human,” Kestrel absent-mindedly corrected the sergeant, still thinking about his instructions from Kai, even as he thought about the false Moorin he had known. He thought he knew what to do, but his plan seemed so preposterous that he hesitated to even consider how to engage in it. “I’ve fought more battles than I ever knew were possible.