by Ryan Sova
“They're here!” Jestal declared.
Nephal had asked Jestal to keep an eye out for the detachment of soldiers that was supposed to be arriving sometime that day. The grazing field from where Jestal and Gabriel were herding the sheep was a good location to watch for the coming of this solder detachment. He had previously told Eliak that once the detachment arrives, they would take the rest of the day off so he could meet with his brother. Work on the farm was coming along pretty well. They still had a lot left to do, but they were far enough ahead to afford to take at least one day off, Nephal reasoned.
Eliak did not hesitate after receiving his invitation. Nephal had to remind him to finish what he was doing first and to put the buckets away before he could get cleaned up to go see his brother. Nephal had also planned on going with Eliak to meet his brother. He was curious to learn what it was that was going on at the Borderlands that brought about this evacuation order.
Nephal grabbed a change of clothes and went to the stream that ran near his property to go wash off before meeting Eliak’s brother. He did not want to greet anyone with the odor manure spreading left him with. It was not long before Eliak joined Nephal in the stream. Both men quickly bathed themselves and changed into a fresh set of clothes before heading to the village.
The Homestead village was rather large for being a farmers village. It had only one road that ran through it. Heading east on the road would lead you to the Borderlands while heading west on the road would lead to towns and villages such as Cragword, Avelar, and Solace. The Kingdom of Noah had a vast network of roads that branched off in all directions and allowed safe travel to every city, town, and village in the kingdom, including the capital city of Bragsdale.
In the village center, buildings lined each side of the road that offered many services such as, blacksmithing, woodworking, tailoring, a church, a library, an Inn, a farmers exchange (a place where farmers would sell their goods to be transported and resold throughout the kingdom), stores that dealt in antiques, livestock (these stores would also sell fertilizer and seed), Wine and Ale, exotic foods and also various fruits. There were also several homes that were located close to the village which were primarily occupied by the merchants and their families that lived and worked here.
Around the commotion of the village, various farms dotted the horizon in all directions. The land surrounding the village was primarily flat plains, however, located at a moderate distance north of the village was a river that extended east and west for as far as the eye could see in both directions. In the distance looking westward, you could see the river bend northward as it approached the Gallatin Mountains that were still several miles away and completely out of sight from the village and surrounding area. Behind the river was a large and vibrant forest. There was only one river in this area however and Nephal’s late father had wasted no time in building the family farm right next to it so that his family could easily enjoy the benefits that this river gave to their farm. Other farmers had to bucket water all the way back to their farms, which were in some cases, several miles away. Farmers who did this used carriages that were either pulled by horse or oxen and filled these carriages with buckets of water prior to making the long trek back to their farms. These farmers also used contraptions to store rainwater, thus reducing how often they needed to collect water from the stream.
While this village's primary function was to support the farmers living here. The village also received a large number of travelers and so it had adapted over the years to serve their needs (and purse) as well. The governor of this village was a man named Levi. He was an old man, now in his late nineties and was one of the founding fathers of this village. Much of the village's expanse was directly caused by his leadership. He lived on a farm that was located due east of Nephal’s farm (also right next to the stream). His son Neffelek had taken over responsibility for the family farm many years ago, but Levi still insisted on handling the affairs of the town for as long as his body and mind were still up to the task.
It was a good forty-five-minute walk just to reach the village from Nephal’s farm. Nephal had offered that the two make this journey on horseback but Eliak declined. It was a pleasant and peaceful day outside and he wanted to enjoy it. Besides Eliak thought, he was already quite used to making this trip twice a day anyways going to and from work.
The two talked about the farm and Eliak’s family during their long journey to town. From a distance off they could see the carriage that held the prisoner that the traveling merchant had told Eliak about. The carriage had stopped about a half mile short of the village. The carriage consisted of a large metal cage which was held in place by a wooden cart. There was a wooden seat at the front of the carriage where one of the soldiers would most likely drive the carriage from. The carriage was pulled by two oxen that were currently resting.
Inside the metal cage, a person appeared to be chained to the bars of the cage on the far end opposite to where the oxen and the seat for driving them were. Nephal could not make out what the person in the cage looked like because it was too far away. There were five soldiers stationed with the cage that appeared to be guarding the prisoner. The detachment of soldiers that the traveling merchant told Eliak about consisted of at least fifty soldiers, so this left only one possibility of where the rest of the soldiers were. They had to be in the village.
Nephal and Eliak finally reached the village. Homestead village was busier today than usual. Several soldiers filled the street going to and from the various shops that the village had to offer. Of all the soldiers that they had seen, though, Eliak still had seen no trace of his brother anywhere.
“He is probably drinking an ale at the Inn,” Eliak suggested.
“Either that or he was one of the soldiers that we saw with the prisoner,” Nephal said.
Nephal followed Eliak into the Inn. The Inn was a rather large building. Just past the front door was a large dining room that was filled with tables and chairs for guests to be seated in. Straight ahead was a staircase that lead from the ground level all the way up to the third floor. Walking to the right would lead you further into the dining room. At the far end of this room was a large wooden counter where people would order food, a drink, or a room. Behind the counter led into the kitchen. Each floor had its own ceiling. The bottom level also had chandeliers that contained multiple candles that, when lit, would provide plenty of light to the dining room at night. During the day, however, this light would be provided by the numerous windows on both sides of the room. The two upper levels contained all of the guest rooms, one of which is where Eliak’s family had been staying.
“Eliak, come here and join us big brother!” Fargh said.
Fargh looked very similar to his brother Eliak. He was a bit more muscular and looked slightly older (mid-twenties) than his brother even though technically, he was still the younger brother. He wore the customary armor of a soldier, with the customary breastplate, arm plates, leg plates, boots, and brown tabard (displaying the kingdom’s colors and symbol) that each soldier wore. He had dark black hair, green eyes (much like his brothers) with a thick mustache and beard. It was the facial hair that made Fargh look so much older than his big brother. His helmet had been placed on the table in front of him and he had a large cup of ale in his right hand.
Seated right next to Fargh was his mother Jane and on the floor next to Jane was his youngest brother Jacob, who seemed to be totally absorbed into playing with his toy soldier and horse, not even taking notice of the fact that his big brother Eliak had just entered the room. Jane wore a simple green tunic and had long brown hair that was just starting to turn gray. She carried a pleasant demeanor and outwardly appeared to be very happy and cheerful. She also looked rather young for her age, in spite of the fact that she was almost fifty years old.
Eliak and Nephal walked over to the table Fargh was sitting at and sat down on the opposite side.
“It is great to see you again, Fargh,” Eliak eagerly said after he was fin
ally seated.
“Same here big brother. You seem to have done quite well for yourself here. And you must be this Nephal that my mother speaks so highly of,” Fargh said and then extended his hand in friendship to Nephal.
Nephal shook his hand then said, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Fargh.”
After greeting Nephal, Fargh grabbed his cup and took a deep swallow.
Jane looked at Eliak and said, “Are you already done with work for the day? I just finished telling your brother not to expect to see you until this evening?”
“I let him take off work early today. I know how important this is to all of you,” Nephal said.
“Well thank you. That was very thoughtful of you,” Jane responded.
“So, how is the soldier's life treating you, Fargh?” Eliak asked.
“Actually, it’s rather boring. I spend half of my day training and running patrols, while the other half of the day I spend building some stupid wall,” Fargh answered.
“How big of a wall are we talking about?” Nephal asked.
“Massive, It’s supposedly going to cover the entire border. That’s why we have the whole army stationed out there. Still, though, even with seven hundred and fifty thousand troops and another four hundred thousand builders working day and night on this thing, it is still going to take us at least a year or two before we build this wall to the specifications that the king wants,” Fargh answered.
“But you have sorcerers out there, though, right? Couldn't they just whip up some magic spell, snap their fingers and make this wall appear out of thin air?” Eliak asked.
“You would think so right! But all they seem to know how to do is bark out orders,” Fargh answered.
Jane commented, “Your work would probably go much faster if these sorcerors could summon up a few giants to help out. We all know that they used giants in the War of the Empires, so why can't they use some of that same magic here I wonder?”
“There are a lot of things that would make more sense than what we have been doing. It doesn't seem like these sorcerors are doing anything other than giving us orders. Most of us don’t understand why they are even out here. Sorcerors have never had direct command over the army like this before, so why now?” Fargh said puzzled.
“How many sorcerors are there?” Nephal asked.
“I am not sure exactly how many of them there are. They have us divided into several battalions that span the entire border. We have been charged with patrolling the border and building this wall for each section of land that we have been assigned to. Each battalion has at least three to four sorcerers overseeing them. I have heard that in some battalions there are even more. Eventually, all the sections of this wall will be interconnected and we will also have an array of watchtowers to watch over the horizon. Once all of that happens, I am guessing that most of us will be re-assigned with maybe one battalion remaining behind to guard the Borderlands,” Fargh said.
“The kingdom must be preparing for an attack,” Eliak said.
“Maybe, but I have seen no signs of an imminent attack. We haven’t even sent out any scouts, which is unheard of for wartime conditions. In our patrols, the only people that we have stopped are a few traveling merchants. We were ordered by the sorcerors to deny them entry into the country. Which is odd, seeing that the kingdom used to welcome open trade,” Fargh said.
“What is the story behind the prisoner that is just outside of town?” Nephal asked.
“I wish I knew,” Fargh said with a disgusted tone.
“She was the wife to one of the traveling merchants we stopped. We were about to turn them away as we have done with every other merchant thus far when one of the sorcerers ordered us to seize the woman. So we did as we were ordered. The woman was completely shocked when we took her and started crying, but fortunately didn’t put up too much of a fight. Her husband, however, was a different story entirely. We almost had to kill him. As it was, we ended up giving him quite a beating because he DARED to try and protect his wife! None of that seemed to matter though to this bastard sorcerer! He had us cage her up like an animal, right after we had just finished nearly beating her husband to death! I have had to listen to that poor girl cry herself to sleep every night now since we left the Borderlands almost two weeks ago.” Fargh was almost on the brink of tears and clenched his fists in anger after he had finished relaying his story.
“That’s awful!” Jane said in disgust.
Fargh continued, “I wish that I could just quit without losing my head in the process. Working for these assholes just turns my stomach.”
Fargh drank more heavily. He was noticeably disturbed by the subject that they had just been discussing, as was everyone else at the table. Upon finishing his drink, Fargh returned to the counter and ordered another ale.
The conversation at the table went on for another two hours. After the discussion that they had about the prisoner, no one brought up anything about the Borderlands or Fargh’s new job as a soldier anymore. Over time, the mood around the table lightened again.
The sun was just starting to set when Nephal stood up and announced that it was time for him to return home to his wife. Fargh again greeted Nephal and thanked him for all he had done for his family. As Nephal was about to leave Fargh asked, “We are leaving town at first light. Can my brother Eliak come and see me off?”
“We will both come and see you off. It was a pleasure meeting you, Fargh,” Nephal said and then left the Inn.
On his way back to his farm, Nephal glanced over at the cage that held the prisoner Fargh was talking about. He felt pity for her. What possible reason could the sorcerors have in grabbing some poor woman off the streets and throwing her into a cage, Nephal thought in disgust? All his life, Nephal had learned to respect the elite sorcerers that ruled the kingdom of Noah (Noah being the most elite of all the sorcerers, hence the reason that he was made king over the land). They were said to be both wise and powerful beyond imagination. No nation on Earth could hope to remain free without a Council of the Magi leading them. The War of the Empires proved that point. This war was terrible for every nation on Earth, but for the nations that had no sorcerers the war was completely hopeless. Whole nations were slaughtered mercilessly by the great powers that fought for global domination during these dark times. Were it not for nations like the Kingdom of Noah, the Kingdom of Herald, and the Kingdom of Dominic, there would have been no force on Earth that could have stopped the Vestillian Empire and its ally the Yessitic Empire.
Nephal’s view of the sorcerers had been shattered by the things that he had just learned. To him, the sorcerers seemed to be lazy, arrogant, and cruel. At dinner, Nephal did not have much of an appetite. The thought of that woman chained to the inside of a metal cage turned his stomach.
Nephal retired early that night. While in bed, he explained to Debra the horrible things that he had just learned about the sorcerers that ruled their nation. She was equally shocked and horrified to learn the things that the sorcerers were doing in the Borderlands. The couple spent much of the night discussing the things that Nephal had learned that day before he finally fell asleep.
Nephal arose early the next morning. Remembering what Fargh said the previous day about leaving town at first light, he did not want to miss his chance to say farewell to Fargh. He quickly changed clothes and made his way to the Inn. This time, Nephal chose to take a horse to speed along his journey. After tethering his horse, he entered the Inn.
Eliak and Fargh were seated at a table just finishing their breakfast. They both called out to Nephal and greeted him. He walked over to their table and joined them.
“I would offer that you join us for breakfast, but I need to leave soon to go and form up with my detachment,” Fargh said.
“That is ok, I don’t have much of an appetite anyway,” Nephal said. He then paused for a bit and asked, “Is your mother coming?”
“No, I’m afraid not. Jacob is still sleeping and she does not want to wake him. She
has already said her goodbyes,” Eliak said.
Fargh stood up, picked up his helmet from the table and placed it on his head. “It’s time that we be going,” he announced.
Eliak and Nephal followed Fargh out of the Inn. There were several other soldiers that were also migrating out of the Inn and finding their way to the cart that held their prisoner. Most however, were already by the cart massed together in a huge conglomerate of people. Most of the soldiers were talking amongst themselves and making jokes with each other. Among the group of soldiers, Nephal spotted a man that wore a black robe that was embroidered with golden runes. As they started making their way toward the congregation of soldiers, the image of the prisoner became more clear. Although she was still in her early twenties, the trip seemed to have aged her by ten years at least. She had ragged hair and carried a worn and exhausted demeanor. Her arms and legs were bound by iron chains to the bars of the cage. The blue dress that she had worn when she was taken was now covered in her own excrement and emitted a very foul odor.
As the men approached the cage, they started smelling the odor she emitted.
“I forgot to warn you, the smell around her is pretty bad,” Fargh stated.
Eliak and Fargh started talking amongst themselves. It would still be a few more minutes before they would reach their destination. Once they finally reached the congregation of soldiers, Nephal felt a strange chill go down his spine. As they approached the cage that held the prisoner, intense and overpowering fear overcame him.
Somewhere deep in Garry’s subconscious mind, he reacted to the fear Nephal now felt. He had felt this type of fear before many times.
Nephal suddenly had a sense of déjà vu. He knew without a doubt that he had never before felt anything like this. But still, he could not shake the feeling that he had felt this type of fear somewhere before. Nephal stood where he was, paralyzed and unable to move.
Eliak suddenly and abruptly ended the conversation with his brother mid-sentence. He turned and exchanged a worried glance with Nephal. Eliak could feel it too.