by Mussie Haile
Mikko turned, and seeing her approach, stopped.
“Hi.” He said as she came to a halt in front of him.
“Hi, D’rmas.” Siem greeted. “How did you find the feast?”
D’rmas grunted.
“I found it boring at some point. And entertaining at others.” He replied.
Siem laughed. “I think we all felt that way. The elves and their ways, huh?”
D’rmas shrugged. “The elves and their ways.” He parroted.
D’rmas was no child and understood that Siem was seeking time alone with Mikko, so he bade them goodnight, and told Mikko not to get lost on his way back.
“Do not pick a fight, D’rmas.” He called out.
D’rmas, still walking, laughed.
Mikko watched him leave, with a smile on his face.
“Nice fellow, hm?” she asked when he faced her.
Mikko smiled. “D’rmas has his quirks.” He said. “But in a nutshell, one can survive around much worse.”
“Are you saying he is a bad companion?” Siem asked, her eyes widening exaggeratedly.
“Oh, of course, no,” Mikko replied immediately. “I am only saying there are lots of people he is better than.”
Siem laughed. “I know what you meant. I was only trying to have a pull your leg,” she said.
Mikko chuckled, as he mock-pleaded, “Please do not tell him I said something of this nature about him!”
“Of course, not. Your secret, or rather, his secret is safe with me,” Siem said.
Mikko breathed a sigh of relief. “D’rmas would as soon challenge me to a fight as he would someone who sullied his warrior ego. He would think I called him a softie if he heard what I just said.”
She nodded.
‘What a character, hm?” Mikko chuckled.
“Aren’t we all?” Siem replied.
They caught the eyes of each other for a moment, then looked away.
“Look, erm, I just wanted to apologize for how I reacted earlier,” she started. “Being around a race as proud as the elves takes its toll on the mind.” She lied, and blood rose to her cheeks. Her eyes were blinking rapidly.
Mikko nodded. “I understand.”
“So, everything is good between us?” she gave him an inquiring look.
“Of course,” Mikko said, his lips spreading into a smile. “Everything was always good between us. I just wanted to give you some space to allow whatever was going on with you to abate.”
Siem felt her heart lurch at what Mikko had just said. She locked eyes with him for a couple of moments, and Mikko thought he could see a gleam in her eyes.
“Tomorrow then?” she said, putting an end to the moment of silence.
Mikko smiled and said, “Tomorrow.”
As he walked back to his tent, his face was all lit with smiles. Even though his mind cautioned him to not jump to conclusions and misinterpreted what he thought the gleam in Siem’s eyes met.
While Siem lay in bed, she tried to convince herself that the happiness she felt was only because she had mended things with Mikko, and not because they had shared some moment of connection. She was used to being alone.
CHAPTER NINE
Fears and Regrets
The capital city of the Middle Kingdom was preparing for war. One look at it, and one would be inclined to think that it was a military Kingdom. Most of its citizenry had taken to staying indoors, due to concerns for safety, or the fears of being forcefully conscripted into the army. The streets were filled with squads of soldiers, in red capes emblazoned with two intertwined dragons, with crowns on their heads – the symbol of the Middle Kingdom – silver mail, and silver helmets. Sometimes, a different battalion would patrol, all outfitted with dark blue body suited armor. These were the acclaimed warriors of the Middle Kingdom, known throughout Toas, for their incredible speed, agility, and precision at killing.
King Henok, sat On his throne, made of bars of sky iron, and the femur of his prizes – people, and beasts who had met their end by his blade. His full dark gray hair was matted back, and his head ringed with a silver band studded with jewels of variegated color. He had a grim expression on his face.
Standing before him were two men in black flowing robes with runes emblazoned on them.
“How is it that none of you has the girl by now?” Henok asked.
“My King,” one of the men began.
“Please, Lord Taboon.” Henok interrupted. “Spare me the encomiums of royalty and go straight to the point!”
Lord Taboon, the shorter of the two with a staff in hand, made a slight bow, acknowledging the king’s wishes.
“If the girl were alone, my king, she would have been caught long before now, as she has little experience outside the palace. However, she is in the company of devious characters, characters that have proven their potency for mischief in the past. I am talking about none other than Siem, and Hermon.”
“Am I supposed to know who they are?” Henok asked.
Lord Taboon bit his lip. Time, and time again, it was Henok’s underestimation of his foes that came around to bite him in the hind. Lord Taboon had been Henok’s teacher in the magical arts while the king was young and still went by the title of prince. But on days like today, he had to stop himself from chiding the king. Henok had a temper, and in the eye of his raging temper, the king was known to make decisions that he would regret later.
“My king,” Lord Taboon said. “Those two are extremely notorious. Siem studied in the School of Magic here for five decades and had to be expelled because she dabbled into forbidden magic, without express authorization from the council. Hermon is a berserker. One of the strongest in his clan. Surely, you can understand our difficulty in obtaining the girl. Plus last time we ambushed her, she displayed powers even beyond what a being of Balance and Chaos is capable of.”
“She tried to infiltrate my palace, Lord Taboon,” Henok said. “And it is all because of your incapacity to do what needs to be done. Must I do everything myself? You have seen more time on earth than that girl, you have had a lot more worth of exposure to magic than she does. If you cannot handle her, one who has not even completed her training yet. Then I do not know what you can do.”
“You can count on me, my…” Lord Taboon began to say when the king cut him off.
“Count on you?” Henok questioned. “For Camin’s sake, I am not counting on you, Lord Taboon. You are not the only one charged with bringing the girl back and letting the necessary sacrifice be made. The whole of Toas is going up in flames. Do you know the toll it takes trying to prime the city for battle? I received news from our underground intelligence network in Technocon, that the Technocons sold some of their technology to Tonar. I can only imagine what they are planning. Now, we have to arrange a parley with the Technocons, which, trust me, is going to be very expensive! All this would not be necessary if you had done your job!”
Lord Taboon stood silently as Henok fumed.
“My king, if I may.” The man standing next to Lord Taboon said. “I trained Eldana personally. And even amid this debacle, I am sure that part of her that once shared a connection to this place, and to what was required of her as a being of Balance and Chaos is still alive. I can bring her around.”
“Apologies, my King,” Lord Taboon interrupted, “but Sinto’s soft spot for the girl is what got us into this mess in the first place. He cannot be trusted to do what needs to be done.”
“Do not get ahead of yourself, Lord Taboon,” Sinto cautioned. “If I remember correctly, a little bird told me that her less powerful friend, Siem, infiltrated your School and you could not stop her! I know my duty, as do you. Do not presume to say what I can and cannot be trusted to do.”
Lord Taboon grew quiet.
“You were saying something,” Henok said, indicating for Sinto to go on.
“Yes, my king. If
I can get to her, in body, or through an intermediary source, I can try to talk her into coming back.”
Lord Taboon scoffed.
Sinto ignored him and continued.
“Since we are so desperate to have her back, every means is on the table. We cannot forgo one for the other. A little niceness as tactics would not be a bad thing. I could try that out, and see how it goes.”
Henok contemplated what Sinto said for a while. Lord Taboon and Sinto stood obediently before him, awaiting his decision.
“Do any of you know her current location?” the King asked.
“Unfortunately not, my king, ”Lord Taboon answered. “The last we had seen of her was when she tried to infiltrate the palace.”
“Both of you do not even know where she currently is, how are you going to talk to her?” He said, more to himself than to the men standing before him. “Do what you have to do.” Henok finally said. “Both of you. I would very much like to reign over the Middle Kingdom in a world that is not spiralling out of control, please.”
Having said this, Henok dismissed them from his presence.
Outside the throne room, Lord Taboon turned to Sinto, “Your liking for that girl may very well be the death of us.”
“I know my duty, Lord Taboon.” Sinto told him. “I do not need you chanting that in my ears every chance you get.”
Lord Taboon smiled. “Well, I am off to find her. My way. The soldiers are not giving me what I want.”
“Do not do anything foolish, Lord Taboon.” Sinto warned.
He knew Lord Taboon was very tricky. He was one of the few who were permitted to dabble in forbidden magic because he had whispered a lot into the King’s ears. And he used that with impunity. Most times it was during training sessions with magicians and soldiers. Sinto found the act despicable every time, but there was nothing he could do. Nothing anybody could do. He had the favor of the king. Something he got from training the king since he was a child. Somehow, Sinto did not want Lord Taboon to catch Eldana. He feared the kind of things and experiences would subject her to if he caught her.
Lord Taboon walked closer to within inches of Sinto.
“And you say you are doing your job.” He told Sinto, staring him in the face.
Sinto stared back, his face a mask of indifference.
Lord Taboon turned and walked out into the soldier-filled streets, and towards his quarters.
Sinto came into his chambers and plunked himself into an armchair. He sighed and closed his eyes.
It was only the night before that Camin and Lowus themselves had visited him in a vision.
“We had a deal.” They had told him. “And you have failed us.”
The gods, though man and woman, spoke at once, as though they were of one mind. Sinto had listened quietly.
“You were to raise the being of Balance and Chaos and prepare them for the sacrifice. That is your life goal, your only path. Keep them servile, and when we get their life force, you get to keep a little for yourself.”
“And I have been doing that,” Sinto said.
“She has run away,” They hissed.
Sinto flinched. “I will have her back. I promise!”
“You better do.” They said. “Or we might not need for you.”
Sinto got up from the armchair and walked towards the huge table close to the window. There was a corked jar of cider on it, and an empty goblet sitting just beside it. He filled the goblet, drained its content, and filled it up again.
His heart bled with hurt, fear, and regret as he thought of Eldana. He regretted ever opening his heart to her childhood exuberances.
I guess at some point, the heart gets the better of you, he thought.
He had never expected to see her as more than a child of chaos and balance, who will end up a sacrifice of power to the gods – a sacrifice that would enable them to restore balance and order to the world. But throughout the years of his training her, he had indeed developed a fondness for her. In fact, he had even begun to see her as a daughter. And she saw him as a father. An image of her flashed through his mind, and he felt a pang of hurt. Her eyes had been always filled with respect and admiration for him. Always. He never showed it because he wanted her to be strong. Not once had she caught him staring at her.
But there was something else that moved Sinto more than anything else in the world, His fear of death. He wanted to live as long as possible. Regretfully, he knew that if he was not of use to the gods, he would lose the subtle increases in his life span he was getting from every successful sacrifice of a being of Balance and Chaos.
He knew what he had to do. He walked to a small chest sitting atop his bed. Unlatching it, he lifted its lid and retrieved a purple silk scarf from it. The scarf held memories, Happy memories, but also painful. It was the scarf he had bought Eldana, the day she had learned how to build an energy wall with air. The magician, he was about to meet, would be needing something of Eldana’s to be able to trace her location. He folded the scarf and put it within his robe.
As he walked out of his chambers, he thought of going along with Tabeli. Tabeli had personally recommended the mage he was about to meet and knew of her whereabouts. But Tabeli posed a problem. He was well aware of Sinto’s weak spot for Eldana. And if he discovered her whereabouts like he was going to if Sinto took him along, he could decide to act on his own, and bring Eldana in, through whatever means necessary.
No, Sinto thought, shaking his head. This journey, I must make alone. He told himself.
As Sinto descended the stairs towards the exit, a man peered out of the corner at him. When Sinto was well beyond the gate, the man walked out hurriedly from the corner, and towards the gate, He had a mop of brown hair, and a long scar running from the left side of his cheek. On getting to the gate, he peeked his head out and caught Sinto walking down the street. Looking around to ensure that he had not been seen, he walked out of the gate casually, with his hands on his pocket, and followed Sinto from a distance. The man remembered last night very clearly. He had been met by a member of the guard and had been instructed to keep tabs on the head of the palace guard.
And that was what he was going to do.
You are the prey now, the scarred man thought, and I the predator.
He smiled and began to walk faster as Sinto disappeared around a corner.
CHAPTER TEN
The Battle For Tonar
Sinto and Lord Taboon stood before Henok, who was pacing like a lion in a cage. This was about the third time in one week that he had summoned them. Sinto prayed that this was not yet another request for a report on how far they had gone in capturing Eldana.
Lord Taboon, on the other hand, followed the King’s every move. He had raised and trained the King and knew when something grave was bothering him. This was one of those times. Now, the King’s official counsellor would have asked Henok for the reason behind his agitation, but some privileged people, like Lord Taboon and Sinto, understood that that would only be a waste of time and life. Henok’s anger could be dangerous. When he was angry, he was highly erratic. In the fury of his rage, people had lost their lives as quickly as it would be to draw a breath.
“We have to attack!” Henok said suddenly.
Sinto’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“Pardon me, my king. I think something must be wrong with my ears. I seemed not to have heard you well,” Sinto said.
Henok stared into the distance for a while, then turned and went to sit on his throne.
“Your ears work correctly, Sinto,” Henok said. “You heard what you heard.”
Sinto flashed Lord Taboon a questioning look. Lord Taboon pressed his lips together and then moved a slight foot forward.
“My king,” he began, “I think the confusion here is the uncertainty of who exactly we’re attacking.”
“My attempts at establishing w
artime interactions with the Technocons failed,” Henok replied.
“Pardon me, my king, but may I ask why the Technocons rejected such a lucrative partnership?” Lord Taboon asked.
“Is it not clear?” Henok said, “Tonar, has probably fed them lies about us!”
“But as a country of their own,” Sinto said, “is it not appropriate that they make investigations of their own before making a decision on which party is lying or not?”
“I had asked this same question to the ambassador, and he had told me that without a doubt, he had said they told them the same thing.”
“What was their reply, sire?” Lord Taboon asked.
“Well, you can imagine,” Henok said, “the Technocons themselves are a very proud race. They told our ambassador that they had done more than enough investigations to make their claims salient. In their words, as part of the races in Toas, their contribution to its existence is to ensure the continuity of peace. And their way of doing that is by not aiding us with their technology. Because we have magic and an already strong army.”
“And we have the money to pay for their technology,” Sinto said. “This was supposed to be a trade.”
“We have tried that. It did not work,” Henok said. “The ‘technocons’ are using our possession of magic as a bias. They insinuate that we would become too strong if we added their tech to our magic.”
“So they offered to give it to these magicless humans instead,” Lord Taboon completed.
“That is not of concern to them,” Henok replied. “I got intel from my spy network that the humans of Tonar have been preparing for battle. The Technocons are still shipping them gadgets and upgrades. I do not think there is a better time than now. If we attack Tonar now, we can prevent any further questioning of our authority over Toas.”
It was an unspoken fact among them that an attack on Technocon was close to impossible, even with their magic and the Warriors of the Middle Kingdom in their possession. The technology of the Technocons was virtually magic of a creative kind. It was magic that could be compressed into portable objects, but the effects these objects had were still mammoth. These Technocon’s were creatures with a head half of their body, perhaps that explained why they created such powerful tools. Most of the time, they wanted peace, so they could continue creating their little, strange type of science magic. Other times, they backed the underdog, but seldom got into conflicts themselves. The people of Tonar on the other hand, were humans, just like them, but without magic, except for very few among them. The people of the Middle were druids. It was rare to see any of them without magic.