Kingdom Come (Price of Power Book 1)

by Blake Bisciotti

  It was still necessary to continue with his original responsibilities as an officer of the Crimson Fox, but he had lost a great amount of interest. His meetings were brief and he delegated more to his colleagues. Sterlis, his best earner, took most of the responsibility. Getting home to his readings was now Ardius’s priority. He wondered what would become of his duties. His hands were involved in many things and he made a good living with such dealings. It was unlikely that he would be asked to continue to deal with business in brothels, underground loans, or transporting alcohol, herbal leaf or any other hard to obtain substances that the common people desired and needed. He would be well off as the Magi Warden, or at least he made himself believe such a thing.

  Three days after speaking with The Grand, Ardius was sitting in a chair in his living room reading a chronicle of the early days of the Sadic Empire, which was the empire north of the northern plains. It was from the Sadic Empire that the founders of the three cities of the South Sea had migrated due to widespread famine. He felt consumed by his hunger for knowledge and desire to begin his new role. News had spread through the Crimson Fox that Victus and his army would soon be defending the city that they took from the Faletonians. Everyone was nervous about the outcome, but Ardius surprisingly found himself disinterested.

  He was engrossed in the book. This particular chapter was about the founding of the original form of government established in the Sadic Empire, which came to be after a century of internal wars and struggles for power. Putting the book down, Ardius thought about Faletonia and where their place would be in history. Would historians one day right about the nation? He also wondered if something similar to Faletonia had every risen up in the past, whether orc, human or mixed. As he considered these musings, a knock on his door interrupted him.

  He opened the door and an elderly man stood outside with a slightly hunched posture. His hair was long and white and his large green eyes met Ardius’s.

  “Good day, Ardius.”

  “Welcome Rez, please come in,” said Ardius as he turned in the doorway and held out his arm, inviting Rez Mostin to enter his house. Upon walking in Rez saw the books and smiled approvingly. The current Magi Warden was dressed very well. He wore a fine white silk shirt with a thin light grey vest over it and elegant slacks. His walk was more of a slow shuffle.

  “Have you read about the island cities of Ischiod?” Rez asked.

  “No, not yet.”

  “I find their civilization fascinating. We have little knowledge of their history, but somewhere in one or two of those books are descriptions of Ischiod. They are not too far to the east of here, great cities scattered over several islands. Networks of trade water ways. Amphibious warfare and bizarre gods. Be sure to read those over. An interesting people indeed. It is a shame we do not interact with them...or a blessing perhaps. Who could no.” His voice was soft but there was still strength in it.

  “I’ve been hoping we would meet soon. Can I get you anything, water? Wine?” Ardius asked.

  “Yes...well…I suppose a small glass of wine would be nice. I seem to enjoy it a little more in my old age.” Ardius quickly fetched two cups and filled them with wine. Rez lowered himself slowly down onto a comfortable chair.

  “Tell me, Ardius. What is it you think you are getting involved with? What would Magi Warden mean to you?”

  The question surprised Ardius. He rubbed his bald head and replied. “I can’t say I know. I’ve been given such little information.” Ironically his gaze turned to the thousands of pages of books that were nearby. “I suppose I’ll learn more as time goes on.”

  Rez nodded as if in approval with Ardius’s humble answer. “I have done this for twenty one years. My situation was different in the beginning. I had encountered magic in the streets. Early in my-” he paused as if at a loss for a word “career…I befriended a magic user. It was through him that I indirectly saw the force that was magic. It was intimidating but magnificent. One day my friend had attempted to teach me the arcane ways. I knew instantly that it was not for me. Learning it was not natural for me and was not intuitive in the least.” The old man looked blankly into the air as he recalled his past. “Its value was not lost to me though. I proceeded to learn who within the Crimson Fox was skilled with magic. There were those who knew illusions, others evocation, some had control over the elements. I would not use magic, but I would utilize those who did. My power grew, and magic was to credit…yet I had never cast a spell. Amazing actually.” He took the cup from Ardius, put it to his mouth with a steady hand and drank.

  “Sounds like you were naturally the perfect fit for Magi Warden,” said Ardius.

  “Well, there was not a position called Magi Warden at the time. I became the first. You see, you must recognize the Magi Warden for what it is intended to be. Not a mage, not some sort of sergeant of those who use arcane magic. It is meant to be a business role. Its all for business. Like all business, risks must be managed, and resources must be productive. That is what the Magi Warden must accomplish. That is the inherent purpose of the position. And this is why you were chosen.”

  Ardius smiled. “I am a rather skilled businessman,” he said with confidence.

  “Are you ready?”

  The question was asked very abruptly and seriously. “I believe I am. I am ready to learn at least,” he replied.

  “And learn you shall. Your answers seem genuine, and I feel that you are not too covetous of the power, which is the greatest risk, the most dangerous path.” Rez Mostin said as he finished his wine and stood. His age was evident as he got up. His long white hair fell over his face and he used a skinny finger to pull it back. “You and I will be seeing more of each other young Ardius. Continue your studies. The plan The Grand has for the Crimson Fox has not yet gotten underway. When it does, magic will be perhaps our strongest muscle to flex.” The Magi Warden began to shuffle towards the door. “I must get on my way.”

  “Must you leave? Please stay a while longer so that we can talk some more,” Ardius pleaded.

  “My apologies for the brevity of my stay, although it was a pleasure. As of now, I am still Magi Warden, and thus have many things to do. It is bad enough I will now do them under the influence of your wine,” Rez said with a smirk and left. Ardius closed the door and looked back to his books. He had plenty of reading to do, but he couldn’t help but wonder about what Rez was referring to when he mentioned the Grand’s plan for the Crimson Fox and furthermore, what his role would be.

  ***

  The birds were quick to begin circling over the city of Southland. Thousands of bodies lay dead and the scavengers were ready for a feast. Victus Antonel walked slowly around the large open area just inside the busted city gate. The battle had just ended and his men were still finishing off dying Faletonian soldiers and trying to help any men that were alive and injured. The adrenaline was subsiding in The Captain and he took in his surroundings. They had won the battle but he was still not sure what had happened outside the gate. He had heard a great horn blow several times and then he felt the tide of the battle turn.

  He continued slowly towards the gate. Beside him on the ground an orc turned over and let out a groan. An arrow protruded from the creature’s chest and blood trickled from his tusked mouth. Victus stared at the creature. His mind was processing so many things that he could not do anything but stare at the orc, who was now gurgling on his own blood. He continued to stare as a soldier knelt beside the Faletonian soldier and shoved a sword through his chest, killing him in mercy.

  Victus’s gaze turned to the soldier and saw a blood soaked face that was a welcomed site to The Captain. It was his most trusted commander and friend Bayloff. A smile crossed his face and a feeling of relief overcame him as he realized his friend had also survived. Victus then shot a glance towards the open space where the city gate had been.

  “You don’t even know what happened do you?” Bayloff asked as he realized his leader was on the ground for the entire battle. He had remained at
op the wall, per Victus’s instructions, where he gave orders to the archers that were with him. When he had heard the great horn blow, he turned his eyes outside the city. From atop the wall Bayloff was able to see the dwarven army approach and then charge down into the Faletonian army. To this point, he was not afforded the chance to relay what happened to Victus. Apparently no one had.

  As Victus continued to stare out of the city gate, he squinted his eyes to focus. He could not believe what he saw, but as the figures got closer to entering the city he understood what had happened. Stout dwarven warriors clad in fine armor were cautiously entering the city with weapons in their hands. The Captain looked on incredulously as more and more dwarves appeared. The human soldiers inside the city stopped whatever they were doing and looked towards their unexpected allies as they made their way towards where Victus was standing. The Captain slowly began to walk towards the dwarves; Bayloff remained close to his side.

  The dwarves stood with stern expressions and looked about. Victus stopped about ten feet away from the army of short sturdy warriors. He sheathed his sword. Both he and Bayloff focused their attention on a form forcing his way through the crowd.

  “Get the hell out o’ me way,” was a cry from the dwarf pushing through the soldiers. Other curses and mumbles could be heard from him as he shoved his way to the front of the army.

  The dwarf was immediately recognizable as a high-ranking officer of the army, if not the commander. He wore immaculate armor crafted from steel that had a red hue to it, which was a strong and rare metal known aptly as red steel. On his breastplate was a symbol of an anvil with axes crossing behind it. He had a shield with another symbol on it, a small flame with a half checkered background behind it. Blood covered his face and soaked his braided beard.

  “Are either of you the leader here?” The dwarf asked Victus and Bayloff.

  “I am.” Victus said at the same time that Bayloff said, “he is”.

  “Bet you’ve never been so happy to see dwarves in all your life have ya? I am Captain Ibelgof Opfs of Orzalar.” With that he walked closer to Victus, who was walking towards him as well.

  “Captain Victus Antonel of the city Rogsnelk,” a few men cheered him on as he said his name, “It is with great honor that I meet you, Captain Opfs.” The two leaders shook hands. To the birds who circled above it must have been a very interesting site: One man, with an army of humans behind him, stood near a dwarf who also had a large force at his flank.

  “Your timing was impeccable,” said Victus.

  “Aye, it looked grim from on top o’ the hill there. It was important that these dogs didn’t get the best of ya.” Captain Opfs said as he wiped orc blood from his cheek. Then more noise near the city’s entrance had everyone looking that way. The surprises continued for Victus and the men in his army. Humans were pushing their way through the ranks of dwarves from outside of the city. They were moving carefully since they were all at least a foot taller than the short bearded folk.

  Once they all emerged from the crowd, twenty-six human warriors stood before Victus Antonel and Ibelgof Opfs.

  “Greeting, I am Mikael Witten of Lunemire.”

  “Lunemire?” Victus asked and looked beyond the gate to see if there were more soldiers belonging to an army of Lunemire. Had they come to his aide?

  “Indeed, only a few of us. We would not have found our way into battle, had the gods not blessed us with the arrival of the dwarves.” Mikael bowed his head to Ibelgof Opfs.

  “Well met Mikael Witten. This is indeed a day that would even shock the gods…or perhaps not. Perhaps we’ve received their blessings yet again. We may not have won this battle without your help.” Victus held his hands out to the army of dwarves and group of humans. “I admittedly am at a loss for words, but regardless of how it happened, one word stands apparent above all other. Victory!” He turned to his army and raised his fist to the heavens. “Unto our honor.”

  “Unto our honor!” The cry went up in unison amongst the human army, impressing the dwarves.

  “Victus, tend to your wounded and dead. Let us meet in an hour from now,” said Captain Opfs.

  “Yes. We have food and supplies if you and your men…err.” The Captain paused; he was not familiar with addressing dwarves.

  “We have our own, but thank you.” Ibelgof turned to his army “Let’s go lads.” The dwarves started back towards the battlefield outside of the city, where they would gather their fallen comrades. They also had some supplies that they traveled with several hundred yards away that needed to be collected.

  Victus turned to Bayloff. “Tend to the wounded and dead.”

  “Yes sir.”

  As Bayloff turned, Victus grabbed his arm and said in a low voice “Assess how many we’ve lost and meet me back in my quarters. Also…” He looked sadly to the ground. “Ludlow…” he murmured thinking of his dead friend. He heard Ryon’s scream again in his head.

  Bayloff had not known the fate of poor Ryon Ludlow but was able to surmise what happened from the look on Victus’s face. “I will handle it.”

  The Captain turned to Mikael Witten and shook his hand. He then did the same for each of the other twenty-five warriors with him. He invited Mikael to walk with him and tell his story in more detail. Mikael explained their mission from Lunemire and their choice to not return home. He mentioned that his fellow soldier, Ostinus Deenor, proposed staying and insisted they fight. Victus stopped and thanked that man with another handshake and a smile. Their discussion continued until it was disrupted by nearby screams.

  “No! No!” A man screamed as he walked up to a corpse of a young man that lay on the ground. “No! Why…Why?” The man shouted as he ran over to the body and knelt beside it. He propped the young man’s lifeless head up in his arms and pulled him close. “Why didn’t you take me instead? Why not me? Take my life and bring my boy back.” The man yelled out to the heavens as he began to weep uncontrollably. “Oh my son…my boy! No!” He rocked the young man’s body in his arms as he embraced him and wept. The dead young man had a deep slash in his stomach from which much blood had already spilled.

  Victus walked away from Mikael and slowly approached the man. He did not know him, but he knelt beside him. A foul odor rose to Victus’s nose, but he held back making a disgusted face. The poor young man must had shit himself as he was run through. His heart was heavy for the man who wept for his son. Immediately he thought of his own son and then he thought of Ryon Ludlow and his family. Sorrow overcame The Captain. The man turned to Victus and he stopped rocking his fallen son.

  “He was a good man. A great son.” He said solemnly and turned to stare at his son’s face and then ran his hand over the young man’s eyes, closing them.

  “I’m sure he was,” Victus put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “He will be honored.” The Captain remained kneeling beside the man for a few moments.

  When he stood back up, Victus ran a hand over his face then back through is long brown blood soaked hair. He asked Mikael to join him and made his way back to his tent. Mikael’s men were told to rest and find water and food and they happily obeyed.

  ***

  The dead were brought into a large building, which was likely the former home of a giant. The injured were brought to a different building. Many men were badly injured and would not make it through the night. Others had lost limbs or had horrible gash wounds, but would likely survive. Elberon, along with most of the other priests, helped the wounded. He had no spell power left. He had used all his spells in combat and knew that he would have to wait many hours until Phelios would grant him more power. At this point, this was true for all the priests. They were only granted power based on the level of commitment and experience they have serving their gods.

  Grunts and groans filled the room as men were working diligently to help the injured. Katriel was also present and was cleaning the open wounds of soldiers and then bandaging them up.

  “There you go, all set,” said Elberon as he fixed a s
ling onto the shoulder of an older soldier. The man already had a bandage around his head, which was stained with blood in one spot. He turned and thanked the priest. Elberon walked towards the door and tightened a bandage he had on his own forearm. He had been slashed by an orc’s sword but the injury was not enough to keep him from helping others. Fatigue was setting in though, he had been helping the wounded for over two hours. The sounds of moans and the smell of blood were getting to him. He stepped outside the building and the priestess Katriel joined him.

  The fresh air hit his face as he opened the door and it felt nice. Soldiers were walking about. The sun was low in the sky and he stared at the symbol of his god.

  “I never knew what to expect with this war.” Katriel said. “I prayed for Aya to give me strength, but I could not have been prepared for the death and despair that I have seen so far. I don’t want this to continue. It has gone far enough. What do you think will happen next?”

  “I don’t know.” Elberon responded, stuck in his daze.

  “Victus must be considering our next moves now. We can only hope that was all that was Faletonia. There cannot possibly be another army out there the size of the one we just defeated. Would we win another battle like this one?”

  Elberon turned to her. She looked tired, but yet still beautiful. “I don’t know. Were it not for the dwarves we could have been defeated. I am weary. I am not sure I could handle another battle, but I will do whatever is Phelios’s will.”

  “And what is that?”

  He looked back to the sun then back to Katriel. “All will be revealed to us.”

  Katriel changed the subject, “I’ve only ever met one dwarf before and very briefly. I’d actually like to meet more of them.”

  “I suspect you will soon get the chance to do so.”

  “Tell me about the dwarves you know.”