Turning the young guardsman around, he pointed to the gate. “Quickly now. Help me tear down this sorry excuse for a gate so we can build a litter to carry Aldan to whatever kind of a building these men called home.”
“How can I help?” Odessa asked.
“We’ll need two horses to carry the litter,” Jon called back over his shoulder.
Glad for something to do, Odessa set aside her sorrow and went back to retrieve the horses as the two guardsmen proceeded to put their plan into motion. At Jon’s direction, she selected the two gentlest appearing horses and then un-saddled the other two.
After attaching the longest poles from the gate to the saddles of the two horses, they stretched two of the horse blankets between the poles and secured them. It wasn’t pretty, but should work for the short distance they had to travel.
Odessa helped the men gently lift Aldan’s unresponsive body up onto the litter and laid the staff next to him. She reached inside Aldan’s travel bag, withdrew the small book of magic and placed it on his chest. She shrugged at Jon’s questioning look. Maybe the magic would help somehow.
Jon lead the way up a narrow path as the Princess walked alongside, and Derek followed, leading the other horses. Odessa watched for any sign of change, but their slow progress gave fear and doubts a chance to worm their way back into her thoughts. She refused to even contemplate what her life would be like if Aldan did not survive.
Sooner than expected, the companions found themselves entering a small clearing with a storybook cottage and barn nestled in the center. They glanced at each other, wondering if they had made a grave mistake, when a frail, elderly woman stepped out of the cottage.
Jon immediately raised his hands and called out to her. “We mean you no harm. Our friend is badly injured and we need a place to care for him.”
The old woman cupped one hand around her ear and motioned them forward with the other. “Don’t be just standin’ there. Come ahead so’s I can hear ye.”
As the companions approached the front of the house, Jon tried again in a louder voice, “Our friend is badly injured and we need a place to take care of him.”
“Ye don’t have ta yell, young’n. I not be deaf.” A big toothless smile lit up her face as she let go a high pitched cackle. “I’d know’d dem horses anywhere. So, I finally be rid of dem hooligans what took over me home. For dat, ye be welcomed. Hurry up now, and bring your friend inside. Old Gertie fix ‘im up, gooder than new.”
Odessa stood transfixed by the old woman. A feeling stirred deep inside her that she could not put a name to. She felt a kinship with this woman, impossible as it may seem. The nod the old woman gave her just before disappearing inside the cottage confirmed she had felt it also. With a shiver Odessa hurried over to help the men lift and carry Aldan inside.
The interior was just as picturesque as the exterior. Colorful curtains hung over every window, quality paintings hung on the walls, and the ornate table in the center of the room displayed several vases filled with flowers. The polished wooden floor glistened like the surface of a still pond.
They were directed to a bedroom that appeared too large for a small cottage, yet felt right. Odessa felt a tingling in her arms as they passed through the door, but her concern over Aldan overwhelmed everything else. A low moan escaped his lips when they laid him down, and several gurgling coughs left a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
Odessa held Aldan’s hand in her own as she stood and gazed down at his ashen face. Tears burned her cheeks as fear and helplessness knotted her up inside. A longing for the ability to help him filled her in a way nothing else ever had. She only half listened as the old woman gave instructions for Jon and Derek to retrieve the bodies of the outlaws, lay them behind the barn and remove all evidence from the road.
At a gentle touch on her elbow, the princess turned and stared into the face of a mature woman with glossy black hair and milky white skin. It was the eyes that made her stare. Irises the color of old blood surrounded pupils that were no larger than the head of a pin. A tight, humorless smile revealed a set of perfect white teeth.
Not pleased with the deception, Odessa stood straight and glared at the other woman. “Is this an illusion or was it the other?”
“Both are illusions. My true form is no longer pleasant to look upon.”
“Why?”
“Men are never intimidated by an old, fragile appearing woman, but that is no longer important. Come, you and I have much to discuss. You stand at a crossroad in your life and what I have to offer may not be what you truly want.” With that she clamped down on Odessa’s hand with an iron grip and attempted to pull her from the room, but the Princess refused to move.
“I will not leave Aldan alone.”
“There is enough magic in the staff and tome to keep your young mage alive for now. Whether he continues to live or not depends on you. We haven’t much time. Come.”
This time, Odessa allowed the woman to lead her out of the room and over to the table which now contained a pot of tea and two cups, steam rising from the contents. She refused to drink anything offered; instead she focused her attention on the woman seated across the table.
“Who are you?”
“I am Alicia Gertrude d’Morano, queen of a kingdom that no longer exists in the memories of men, and a Blood Mage. I have waited for generations beyond counting for someone like you, to whom I could pass on the knowledge I have gained.”
“If you are such a powerful mage, why don’t you just heal Aldan and let us be on our way?”
“I have the knowledge, but no longer have the power. You have the power buried deep inside you, but not the knowledge. The choice is yours. Accept my offer and Aldan will live. If not, he will die.”
Odessa slumped back in her chair, eyes shut tightly as the realization washed over her that Aldan had become more important to her than anything else. Would it enhance their relationship if they both were mages or just the opposite? She decided it didn’t matter.
“What must I do?”
“Kill me.”
Her chair crashed to the floor as Odessa recoiled in horror as if struck a physical blow. Body trembling, she stared at the former queen, revolted by her words. A moment passed before she could whisper, “I cannot.”
“You can, and you will if you wish for that young man of yours to live. Don’t you understand? With every fiber of my being, I want to die. Only by the hand of another mage will my journey finally come to an end.”
She reached under the table and produced a normal sized book, bound in a style similar to Aldan’s Tome of Magic. The Blood Mage stood up and beckoned Odessa towards the bedroom. The princess followed slowly, tears blurring her sight.
Once inside, the old woman laid the book on a table next to the bed and instructed Odessa to remove the tome and staff and place them on the floor at the end of the bed. She managed to lift the tome off of Aldan’s chest, but the staff refused to be removed from his hand.
Alicia stood, hands on hips, and stared down at the staff, which had begun to glow with a weak blue light. “You don’t have any more power left than I do, you old goat. This is his only chance and you know it. Now let go.”
After a brief flare, the glow diminished and Odessa was able to remove the staff. She leaned it carefully against the end of the bed, and then followed the mage back to the table next to Aldan’s head. Alicia lowered herself with a sigh onto the chair beside the table and pulled out a small, thin bladed dagger. She pricked the end of her finger and squeezed until a drop of blood appeared, then handed the dagger to Odessa with instructions to do the same.
As the drop of blood fell from Alicia’s finger to the face of the book, she intoned, “With this token of my blood, I release all previous claims to you.”
As the drop of her blood landed next to the other, Odessa forced words past the tightness in her throat and spoke as instructed. “With this token of my blood, I lay claim to this book as mine and no one else’s.”
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Her features beginning to blur, the Blood Mage gently wrapped her fingers around Odessa’s and placed the point of the dagger against her chest. With eyes closed, she continued, “My life I give freely for the purpose of restoring the life of another.”
Alicia’s eyes snapped open and locked onto Odessa’s. “Now push!”
With a cry of anguish, Odessa forced her trembling hands to press the blade through the woman’s ribs and into her heart. Alicia’s body collapsed in upon itself as a wave of power and euphoria washed over the Princess. The book opened with a sound like rusted hinges and a voice whispered in her mind, “Let us begin.”
* * *
Jon and Derek returned to the clearing, driving a wagon loaded with the bodies of the outlaws. The last traces of their presence at the end of the valley had been completely erased. The men stopped in their tracks, unbelieving. The picturesque cottage and barn had been replaced by two derelict structures on the verge of collapse.
Drawing their swords, they raced into the cottage, stumbled over the remains of a table, and slid to a stop at the door to the bedroom. Inside they found their princess lying face down over Aldan’s heavily bandaged chest, sobs wracking her body as he held her awkwardly with one arm. The chair next to the bed held a small pile of bones wrapped in rags.
Chapter Nine ~Fear of the Night
The guardsmen sheathed their swords and rushed forward, Jon laying a hand on the Princess as Derek moved to gather up their things.
“Princess, we must leave at once. I don’t think this house will stand much longer.” Amid the cascading shower of dust and debris, Jon helped Odessa off of the bed and turned questioning eyes to the young man lying there. “Can you stand?”
In answer, Aldan stretched out his left arm for Jon to grab, and swung his legs around to place his feet on the floor. “My staff,” he grimaced.
A resounding crash outside heralded the collapse of the barn as the walls around them creaked and trembled. Odessa ran ahead, Alicia’s book clutched to her breast with the thin bladed dagger still in her hand, all but forgotten.
Jon and Derek followed closely with the apprentice between them, travel bags and provisions hanging from their shoulders. Jon walked directly behind Aldan in case he faltered, and was ready to carry him if necessary. They emerged into the light of day as the cottage slowly folded in upon itself until only a pile of dust remained.
All four companions sank to the ground and coughed the ancient dust from their lungs while Jon dug out a water jug to pass around. For some reason the dust left the unpleasant taste of blood in their mouths.
Jon surveyed the empty clearing in disbelief and attempted to visualize what had been there when they first arrived. Everything had disappeared except for the wagon and horses. The two they had turned loose in the corral snorted and flicked their ears back and forth several times before they relaxed and returned to grazing. The unusual book beside the Princess drew his eye, and the bloody dagger lying on top conjured images he hastily banished. He raised his eyes to focus on the tears that still glistened on her cheek.
“What happened?”
Odessa had positioned herself where Aldan was able to rest his head on her lap and continued to stroke his hair, the book an undeniable presence. Eyes closed, one finger traced the ornate edges of the tome until, with a sigh, she raised her head and faced the question in Jon’s eyes.
“I don’t fully understand what has happened, Jon. The only thing I can say for sure is that old Gertie was in reality an ancient mage and that she gave her life to save Aldan’s.”
Jon had no doubts there was more to this story, but it was not his place to question his Princess. The important thing was that she lived, and he could see the color returning to Aldan’s face.
“Your Highness, with your permission, we should leave this place. Now that we have a wagon and horses we will make better time and should continue on our journey. Hopefully we will find an inn before nightfall. I tell you true, I have no desire to face any of the ghosts who may inhabit this clearing once darkness falls.”
The haunted look in her eyes intensified when she responded. “Neither do I, Jon. Neither do I.”
Armed with half an apple each, he and Derek caught the loose horses and tethered them off to the side of the clearing amid plenty of grass to keep them busy. Half expecting to find nothing but a pile of bones in the wagon, Jon was unsure whether the sight of the outlaw’s bodies made him feel better or not.
Following the old woman’s instructions, they drove the wagon around the remains of the barn. Four freshly dug graves awaited them there. The two guardsmen shared a look, then shrugged and proceeded to haul each body out of the wagon and dump them in the graves.
Without a shovel and short on time, they kicked enough dirt over the bodies to cover them and left it at that. They filled the wagon from a pile of hay that still looked fresh, not only for the horses but to give Aldan a place to lie down.
They returned to find him already on his feet, the princess with an arm around his waist on one side, the staff supporting him on the other. Aldan glanced inside the wagon and grimaced. He turned to Jon, weak smile lighting up his face.
“Really, Jon? More hay?”
Jon returned the smile, his heart eased by the spark in the young mage’s eyes. “Only the best for you, my lord,” he said with a sweeping gesture towards the back of the wagon, and then bent down to give Aldan a leg up. Odessa took advantage of the proffered hand and joined him.
Derek saddled one of the horses and tied the other to the back of the wagon, while Jon climbed up to the driver’s seat and grabbed the reins. With Derek leading the way, they left the clearing behind.
* * *
Aldan lay on his bed of hay, head propped up on the extra saddle he watched the upper branches of the trees pass by. He winced when the wagon rolled over the occasional rock or dip in the path. Odessa sat next to him; her eyes closed and leaning back against the pile of sacks, hands at her sides to brace against the rocking of the wagon.
He marveled at the fact that he still lived and was on his way to being completely healed. How that had been accomplished was a complete mystery. Somehow, Odessa had been directly involved, but was reluctant to speak of it. He breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the main road, evidenced by the smoothness of the wagon’s ride and the disappearance of the trees above.
Aldan searched for and found Odessa’s hand in the hay. He awkwardly entwined his fingers with hers and stared up at the face that he had despaired of ever seeing again. A pang of regret coursed through him, believing he was the cause of the sadness he saw there. Even the thought of his Tome and Staff were not enough to bolster his failing confidence.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For my life,” he answered, and left it at that. “Where are we? I no longer see anything but sky.”
She squeezed his hand in recognition of the unspoken question, and gazed to either side. “I see the forest and mountains we left behind. To either side stretch fields of wheat and corn, but I have yet to see a house.” She paused and closed her eyes. “What lies ahead, I cannot see.”
Aldan had the uncomfortable feeling she was no longer speaking of the countryside. Before he could ask what she meant, the sound of an approaching horse interrupted him. Derek pulled up next to them as Jon brought the team to a halt.
“Jon, there appears to be an inn up ahead, but something doesn’t look right. Should I investigate?”
“No. Just stay close to us. We will be there shortly and can get a closer look then. Besides, I don’t like the looks of the fields we’ve been passing. This area looks like it’s been deserted for some time.”
A flick of the reins and they were moving once again. Aldan resisted the urge to lever himself up and peek over the side of the wagon. He wouldn’t know what to look for anyway. Odessa tightened her grip on his hand as she stared off to the side, but said nothing.
When next the wagon stop
ped, Jon set the brake, tied off the reins, and stood up with a curse. They all felt it, even the horses stood nervously, blowing and stamping their hooves. It was too quiet, and there was an odor like nothing Aldan had ever experienced. The wagon rocked slightly when Jon jumped to the ground and Aldan heard the distinctive sound of Jon’s sword leaving its scabbard.
“Derek, load that crossbow and keep it trained on the inn. Shoot anything that moves. I’ll be back shortly.”
The silence, the smell, and not being able to see were too much for Aldan. He let go of the princess’s hand, grabbed the staff and used it to lever himself up to where he could lean on the side of the wagon. Maybe it was because of the staff, but his eyes picked out details he probably wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.
All the shutters were closed tight, but had marks on them that looked like they had been made by claws. The ground around the front of the inn was churned, as if a large animal had attempted to dig under it. The front door hung slightly ajar, and what appeared to be a body lay across the threshold.
Jon approached the front of the inn, sword at the ready, his head continuously moving back and forth as he surveyed the ground and then the inn itself. He pulled out a piece of cloth to hold over his nose as he moved towards the door.
A chorus of guttural barking and howling erupted from inside the inn. A shape appeared at the door, and then disappeared with a keening cry that hurt their ears. Jon backed off until the sounds quieted, then turned and ran back to the wagon.
Before saying anything, he reached for the water jug, swilled some into his mouth and spit it out. “Faugh! What I wouldn’t give for something stronger than water to wash this foul taste out of my mouth.” He motioned to Derek to put his weapon away, then came back to stand before the young mage.
“In all my years as a King’s Guard, I’ve never come across anything like this. From what I can remember of the ancient histories, this can only be one thing.” With a sigh, he watched for Aldan’s reaction. “What do you know of goblins?”
The Princess and the Apprentice Page 5