by Paul Yoder
“Am I? Or am I needed back at Sheaf? Not to downplay Leith’s versatility, or Amlici’s readiness to command the Plainstate’s army, but with the reinforcements operation you mentioned putting in place, as well as continuing to station enough troops along our borders, cities, and towns, there will be need of senior leadership at home in the days to come. I cannot rightly let you go unguarded back through that mess, Brigganden. And besides all that, I’ve been stepping on Hathos’ toes this whole time. He’s more than capable in running an operation like this. Once Reza, Gale, Jasper, and the others are reunited, they’ll be set to perform the second half of this mission.”
Metus smiled for the first time that long night. The way Bannon had put it made it seem as though they still had hope in setting things right. He was more than welcomed to the thought of having his company on the hard road ahead.
“Now then, you want to deploy the rest of the Hyperium back to Rochata to extract Reza, Gale, and Eilan who were with you before your exit; Kissa, Jasper, and Arie who we sent back in for the first three; and Cavok and Terra who were supposed to pick up those two enchanters. Am I forgetting anyone?”
“Tris,” Naldurn added. “I had sent her to track Nomad for a ways, then to return and report. She’s resourceful—she’ll likely find the Hyperium before long, even if she has to backtrack our trail.
“Right,” Bannon approved, continuing his thought. “Once all have been gathered, the Hyperium, led by Hathos and Reza, are to head south where we suspect the arisen army to be. Perhaps by then they will have recovered Tris, which would be able to point them in the direction Nomad was headed. That’d lead them straight to the arisen lord.”
“That’s right,” Metus agreed. “At which point, upon finding the arisen army, Hathos and the Hyperium, and Reza and company, will survey the arisen forces and determine if there’s any possible line of attack, specifically, any reasonable path to kill the arisen lord. If there is not, or the forces of Rochata-Ung once again come to harass, return to our borders north of Brigganden. We can offer reinforcements from there, or, if that avenue is found to be hopeless, we can regather ourselves in our own lands and formulate our next strategy from there.”
“I have a suggestion,” Hathos said in a quiet, but commanding tone. Metus and Bannon looked to the Hyperium Primus of all three companies and waited for him to explain.
“To extract Reza and the others will require some cunning. We just decimated one of their cavalry units. They will be hostile to our presence. We have sixty-two prisoners. We can bring them back in a show of goodwill. They will be focused on this exchange. In the meantime, Naldurn and a few of her Shadows will have gained access to the city, locate our people, and see them out of the city walls, south to the Tarigannie Dunes where we will rendezvous.”
“Once Rochata have their people back, they may send a force after you again,” Bannon offered, considering the next step in the plan.
Hathos considered the snag. “Let’s hope Tris has information on Nomad, and let’s hope Nomad guides us quickly to the arisen’s forces. If Rochata comes face to face with the arisen army, they may be forced to believe all our warnings.”
“There’s a lot of hope in that plan,” Bannon gruffed.
Hathos let the statement settle in for a moment before admitting, “With the size of our force we have left to work with, and the task laid before us, hope will have to be an element we’re comfortable working with.”
There was a somber moment of quiet, each in the leadership circle contemplating the plan thus far, trying hard to ward off, or get used to, the increasing smell of death that lingered amidst the town before Metus took a deep breath in and exclaimed, “Indeed. Which is why, Hathos, if at any point during the mission you feel your chances at completing your mission becomes too risky, abort and head back to the Plainstate.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Bannon said, adding, “Hathos, you’ll probably want to head out by morning time. With the Hyperium on the move, Rochata’s focus will be on you and not on us. We’ll be much more vulnerable traveling with the sick and wounded. Being run down by another deployment would be certain doom for our company. Gather what able-bodies you can tonight, organize your troops, take what supplies you’ll need for the road, and get the prisoners ready to head out. We’ll be doing the same sometime tomorrow after letting the refugees pack what they can for the journey.”
Metus gazed off, the group weary from not just the battle, but from all that remained ahead of them. His eyes were fixed on a dead Rochatan soldier, slit through the stomach, his entrails already a gathering place for the desert flies.
Snapping out of his daze, he announced, “I’ll visit with Henarus and see how he fares. With luck, he’ll be good enough to continue on with the Hyperium. The more gods we have at our aid in this war, the better.
“We have a great deal of work to do this night. Let’s waste no more time here. See to your men and women. Let’s be ready to leave this place at sunrise. Gather our dead and see to a funeral pyre. I hate to leave the Rochatan dead unburied, but there’s simply too many of them, and I don’t trust the prisoners to roam the fields for cleanup. The dead will have to remain to molder as a warning to Rochata-Ung.”
Metus paused, his breathing quickening slightly. “And I hope that if they do receive that warning, they pay special attention to Set’s body…,” he said, Bannon’s concern for his sultan’s mind state returning, “…and to know that any crooked judge that crosses me and my people, will receive no mercy by my hand.
4
The Blooming Lotus
“There’s the college gates,” Reza said, being careful to keep her voice low as she motioned for Gale and Eilan to see from the shadows of the backstreet they were hiding in.
It had been a few blocks since they had seen signs of the city guards looking for them, Eilan weaving them quickly and skillfully down and through a network of low-traffic streets to get them to their destination without much trouble from the pursuing guards.
Eilan casually looked down the main street leading to the gates, checking to see if there were soldiers around, then tucked back into the shadow of the overhanging building they were lined up against.
“I see no guards the way we came. We may have outdistanced them. If we’re committed to entering that campus, we’d better make our move now,” she said to Reza, who ultimately was the one her and Gale knew the decision rested upon.
“It’s the only lead we have to find Cavok and Terra. Nowhere else to go,” she said, walking calmly out of the side street with Eilan and Gale close behind, the three walking up to the long gates that stretched many acres to both sides, gating in the beautiful cherry tree covered campus grounds.
A young man stood on the other side of the gate, watching the three as they approached, asking, “What brings you to the Blooming Lotus today?” in an unconcerned voice.
“We wish to see Zaren Zebulon. It’s urgent,” Reza answered shortly, getting the feeling of guard’s eyes upon their backs the longer they stood out in the open.
The young man perked up, remembering the last time a stranger had asked for the old enchanter.
Stumbling slightly with his words, the boy answered, “I don’t know if he’s still here. I heard he was preparing to leave this morning. I could check for you—”
“Please. Let us go with you to find him. My message is urgent—every moment counts,” Reza begged, knowing that if they were spotted by the guards there, things would get incredibly more complicated.
The youth looked to the other two beside Reza, then went to unlock the gate, letting them in off the street.
“Thank you,” Reza sighed, waiting as the young man locked the gate behind them, leading them quickly down the campus’ main path to the large archways.
They were just coming up the steps when Reza heard a familiar voice call out, “Come on, old man. I wouldn’t have agreed to have you along if I had known you were bringing all that rubbish,” Cavok said, walking out
of the shadows of the building’s hall to find Reza standing there, stunned at her good fortune in catching the man before they had left campus and into the city.
“Cavok! Thank the gods!” Reza called out, giving the large man a quick embrace as he turned from shouting at the old enchanter lagging behind to consider Reza, Gale, and Eilan.
“What are you three doing here?” he asked, not seeing the other company he had left them with the previous day.
“We ran into trouble. Had to split up,” Reza explained as the three others slowly caught up to Cavok.
Terra embraced Reza, wearing a welcoming smile as she went to stand next to Cavok, whom she often shadowed the past few days, his sturdy structure seeming to provide her with needed security.
An all too familiar praven bounded up to greet Reza, an old enchanter all in robes hobbling up just behind, looking somewhat pleased to once again see the saren knight.
“Reza Malay,” Jadu, the little praven uselessly announced to everyone, adding after a moment, “Hey, did those lesions ever completely clear up from that poison you contracted last year or do they still vex you? That type of skin condition often comes in waves, you know—”
“Jadu! This is not the time for antics! Tarigannie is in danger, the arisen lord is on his way, and Sultan Metus was separated from us while being chased by guards!”
“So—the talks with the judges ended poorly?” Cavok asked, not sounding the least surprised.
“Yes, Cavok—they ended poorly,” she hissed, exasperation beginning to creep in.
“So, I’m guessing we’re moving to plan B?” he said as he crossed his arms, easily looking over Reza’s head to survey the city beyond the gates.
She took a steadying breath and said as calmly as she was able, “Unless Metus secretly conveyed a plan B only to you, then no. We don’t have a plan B. We just need to get the hell out of this death-trap of a city—” she lowered her rising voice to a whisper and continued, “—before the guards find us and string us up for defending ourselves and killing half-a-dozen murderous thugs in the streets.”
Cavok looked to Terra, side-eyeing her for falsely judging him so harshly the other day with the guard he had put to sleep in the alley.
“And you think I’m rough with guards? You ain’t seen Reza angry and cornered,” Cavok patronizingly whispered.
The gate youth stood there bug-eyed, knowing at that point it was too late to slip away. For the second time in the last day, he had somehow managed to become an uncomfortable fly on the wall as Master Zebulon’s guests divulged terribly incriminating information that Denny had rather not have heard in the first place.
In the silence, most in the group became aware of the extra pair of ears, and Cavok gruffed to Zaren, “You going to do something about this kid, or am I?”
Zaren furrowed his brows, locking eyes with Cavok. “There’s no need,” looking to the youth, explaining, “Denny has been witness to much more…deviant transactions and information, which has granted him a number of private enchanting lessons from renowned yours truly—hasn’t it, Denny?” he coerced.
Denny shrugged, nodding his head convincingly as everyone looked to him.
“Not a word, Denny, or I’ll find you in the dead of the night and use you like a rat in an experiment, playing with your reactions like a cat with a mouse….”
The boy swallowed, remaining deathly still, unblinking.
“See. Denny’s not a problem,” the old man casually said.
“Hells, I was just going to put the kid to sleep for a few hours,” Cavok said, eyebrows raised at the ruthlessness of the old man.
“Enough,” Gale cut in harshly. “As Reza said, we don’t have time for this. We need to find a way out of this city, and currently, the gates are on heightened alert looking for us. What are our options?”
“Need a way out of the city, eh? I might know of one—well, I know of a few, but one in specific that’s close by,” Cavok offered, all eyes back on him once more.
“Zaren and Jadu probably know of it. There’s a gate northwest of this college. It’s used for travel between here and Alanth. Many orchard workers come and go through it daily. It’s a smaller gate, but if push comes to shove, we’ll be dealing with much less resistance from gate guards there than the main one to the south.”
“Perhaps the guards up at that gate haven’t even gotten word of us yet,” Eilan suggested.
“Well, if they haven’t yet, they soon will. If we’re going to make a move on that gate, we had better get moving on it,” Gale added, asking Cavok, Zaren, and the others, “Are you lot ready to move out?”
“Denny, go fetch us some student enchanter’s robes,” Zaren sighed, sliding a hand down his face, mumbling, “I haven’t even set foot outside of this damned college on this ludicrous job and already we’re in trouble with the law. Why did I agree to get mixed up with you lot again?”
5
Of School Robes and Wildflowers
“Keep the hood on, Jadu,” Reza hissed at the little praven who was fidgeting with the oversized robes he had been tossed.
“Why? They’re not looking for me, it’s you they’re after,” he replied back in the busy street they were in, getting a not-so-light smack on the back of the head from Eilan, trying to silence the loud praven before he gave them away with his idle talk.
“Ow!” Jadu yelped, rubbing his noggin, looking up to the two vexful women, throwing his hood on before he could be assaulted further.
“The gate’s ahead. Looks like it’s a bit busy,” Cavok said, leaning down to announce to Reza.
“It’s apparently harvest day or some fall festival. Let’s hope this congestion doesn’t hold us up too long,” she softly replied from under her red-velvet hood.
Zaren, leading the class of first-year student enchanters, all robed in the same drab, flame-retardant, red hooded robes, hobbled up to the short line leading out of the city gates, everyone waiting for the incoming company of orchard workers to slowly move their fresh haul of apricots, pomegranates, and melons along down the main street, headed to the market proper.
“Can I buy one? Those look lovely!” Jadu called out to a cart as it moved along down the lane.
One of the workers took note of the child-sized man swimming in robes, chuckled at the comical scene, seeing Cavok’s large frame beside him, tossing him a ripe apricot for the smile.
A guard on the other side of the lane took note of the small act of kindness, a smirk playing on his lips as he went about his duties with a little more warmness in his heart.
Reza glared hard at the little man that was bringing far too much attention to their group, but with Cavok’s hand humorously ruffling the praven’s hood and hair, she let out a sigh and attempted to put him out of her thoughts, knowing how riled he was going to make her if she didn’t let it be. Then it would be her who would be the one drawing attention to the group. She envisioned an image of her strangling the little man in the streets, which gave her a slight moment of joy.
“Headed?” the gate guard tersely asked Zaren as they finally inched their way to the small raised gated archway as the last of the orchard crew made their way through the one-cart sized pass.
“Field trip for some Blooming Lotus first years,” Zaren grumpily replied, not out of character in the least as he ill-temperedly rocked in place, leaning on his staff.
Seeing the way clear, having answered the guard already, Zaren started to hobble through the gate, but the guard held a hand in front of him, holding him up as Zaren gave a stink-face at the man in armor.
“One moment, they’ve been waiting a while to get through,” the guard explained as a few groups of travelers made their way through the archway, some with donkey’s hauling their belongings, some with carts, and some bringing live animals for the market.
“Field trip, eh? Sounds fun. Whacha got planned for ‘em today?” the guard asked, attempting to engage in a bit of small talk with the grumpy old enchanter.
“
Floral picking. Damned students don’t know a nightshade from a canterbell,” Zaren grumbled, frustrated at having to actually play into the role of a college professor, even though that technically was one of his many titles.
“Fun,” the guard sighed, his interest in the group instantly deflating.
The last of the outsiders made their way through the gate, and Reza, keeping a nervous eye on the whole scene, stiffened as she saw three familiar figures saunter through the gates in their direction.
Arie, Jasper, and Kissa casually made their way through the gate, Arie looking up as Reza blurted out, “Good day for traveling?”
The three stopped, noticing the group that they had been sent back to the city to rescue.
“It is a very good day to travel,” Arie replied, a smile easily coming to her as she silently thanked the gods that luck had decided to grace them at least once that day.
“Where are you lot headed?” Kissa asked, playing along with the anonymity ploy, guards still flanking both sides of them.
“Flower picking!” Zaren barked out, quite done with stalling at the gate, playing games.
“We passed some vivid wildflowers just a ways back, not native to the region. Might be worth a look…if you’d be willing to pay us as your guide there. A small finder’s fee, nothing much,” Arie soothingly said, selling the offer so convincingly, that even one of the guards perked up, listening in on the talk of colorful exotic flowers.
“How gracious of you. How does a silver strip sound?” Reza asked, Zaren taking the hint that Reza was engaged in some ploy she no doubt wanted him to play along with.
“That’s a fair price. It’s not far off the trail,” Arie agreed.
Reza smiled back, “Then please, lead the way.”
The guard listening in on the conversation smiled dumbly as he breathed in a lung of fresh, fall air, his faith in humanity restored as the birds chirped in the nearby acacia tree, lending to the peaceful exchange.
The large group started out of the gates, making their way under the portcullis just as they heard the sound of horse hooves ride up, officers announcing to the guards on duty descriptions of on-the-run dignitaries from the Plainstate to keep an eye out for, ordering to double the guards on duty at the gate.