Fortress of Radiance

by Marc Alan Edelheit

  Cyln’phax laughed. Karus sensed a wild joy in that laugh, mixed with amusement at his expense.

  Do not worry, human, Cyln’phax said as she leveled off at the last moment before they would have smacked into the ground. They were traveling at an almost unbelievable speed, skimming just over the land. Wings outstretched, the dragon followed the contour of the rolling hills, rising and falling with each. The terrain below flashed by in a dizzyingly dark blur. Cyln’phax flexed her wings, and they climbed just enough to clear a stand of trees. The dragon let out a roar of what he took to be satisfaction.

  Enjoy the ride, for very few of your kind have been honored in such a way.

  Behind them, Karus heard Kordem let out a matching roar.

  Chapter Five

  Karus tossed the pack with the tent, blankets, and spare tunics down to the ground below. It landed next to the other pack with a solid-sounding thump. He climbed carefully off the back of the dragon, working his way down her side. His sandals sank slightly into a carpet of soft, green moss, scattered over with brown and yellow leaves from the previous season. The leaves crunched underfoot.

  It felt good to once again have his feet back on solid ground. Karus was stiff, tired, and cold. He stretched out his back. The unrelenting wind as the dragon flew through the sky had chilled to the bone. If he ever took another journey with the dragons, he would make certain to bring along a heavy cloak for warmth. His service cloak just didn’t cut it.

  Karus rubbed his hands together for warmth before he untied the straps to his helmet. Lifting the heavy thing off his head, he cracked his neck. It was always a relief to take the bloody thing off. Tucking the helmet under an arm, he ran a hand through his short-cropped hair and looked around the forest clearing. The smell of decaying leaves, moss, and moist soil filled the air.

  They had been flying over a vast forest when the dragons had decided it was time to land and rest. The forest stretched for as far as the eye could see. Prior to landing, Karus had been unable to spot any settlements or, for that matter, breaks in the forest canopy. The dragons had slowed to a hover and made their own clearing as they landed, knocking down and shattering the hardwoods below them. Once down, they quickly made the clearing larger by swinging their powerful tails around, shattering and snapping tree trunks. Between the two them, the dragons had cleared a space roughly two hundred yards around. They had made an effort to push most of the shattered limbs and trunks aside. It was an impressive bit of work and had been completed in just a matter of minutes.

  Karus studied the hardwoods that surrounded the clearing. The trees were old, with thickened trunks. They reached upward around eighty to one hundred feet with a nearly impenetrable green, leafy canopy. As a result, the forest floor was fairly open, with very little brush or undergrowth.

  The forest was dark and had an ominous atmosphere to it. It was too quiet, almost silent. Karus had the uncomfortable feeling that they shouldn’t be here. Though the trees were smaller, the forest had a similar feel to the one the legion had found itself surrounded by the day they had arrived on this world. Karus found that thought not a comfort but instead a concern.

  He looked over at Kordem to see how Amarra was doing. Carrying her staff, she climbed down off the dragon’s back one-handed and jumped down the last couple feet. Her packs were already on the ground. Karus saw she was speaking with Kordem. Amarra spotted him looking her way and waved enthusiastically before turning back to the dragon, clearly deep in conversation.

  The suns emerged from a cloud and bathed the clearing in brilliant sunlight. Both suns had been up for about three hours. The warmth was a welcome relief. Karus relished the feeling and closed his eyes, breathing in through his mouth. He held the breath a moment before releasing it through his nose. He now understood what a bird felt like. Despite the chilling wind and his fear of heights, after the sky had lightened, Karus had found himself enjoying the experience of flying, somewhat.

  He had watched, almost mesmerized, as the first of the two suns had pulled itself up and over the horizon, followed shortly after by the second. It had been a magnificent sight. The ground beneath them went from complete darkness to shadow and then to brilliant color as the sunlight slowly forced the night back. They had passed over a large lake, the surface burning with reflected sunlight. He had found it all quite impressive, awe-inspiring.

  Still, Karus had decided flying was not quite for him. Heck, he did not even feel that comfortable on the back of a horse, though he had managed well enough when needed. Over the years, he had marched many miles with just his own two feet. He was a soldier through and through, an infantry officer first and foremost. His place was firmly on the ground, with his men.

  Cyln’phax, seeing that he was off her back, huffed out a breath of what Karus took to be impatient relief. The dragon took several steps forward and then to the side, each step landing with a heavy thud, her claws digging deeply into the soft soil of what twenty minutes before had been the forest floor. Her right fore-foot crushed an ancient stump into the ground as she moved. Karus heard it crack and snap under her weight. The dragon’s head swung to the left and toward the forest only a few yards away. A moment later, she whipped her tail around. It connected with a tree that had managed to escape the destruction of her landing.

  The oak had stood for countless years. It went down with a thunderous crash, falling into the forest and taking a second tree down with it. Silence followed as Cyln’phax raised her head into the air and looked over her work. Karus got the sense she was satisfied, for she shook herself and then lay down. Neck stretched out, the dragon lowered her head to the ground, where it landed with another heavy thud, setting the branches on the nearest trees shaking. She rolled over onto her side and rubbed herself along the ground like a horse might. She looked to be scratching an itch. She rolled back onto her belly and her head swung around to look at Karus.

  You may wish to get some sleep, Cyln’phax said in a tone laced with weariness. We will remain here for no more than four hours.

  “How far have we come?” Karus asked. They had traveled through much of the night. In the darkness, the distance had been difficult to judge. He figured they had gone several hundred miles at least.

  Human, I have to tolerate your presence and bear the indignity of having you upon my back, Cyln’phax said. Do not test my patience. Just know we will reach the fortress sooner than you could have marched on your two tiny and pathetic little feet.

  Karus rubbed his jaw with frustration as he gazed back at the dragon.

  We’ve come a ways, Kordem said, joining the conversation. As I’ve just told Amarra, we must make an important stop first before we continue on to the fortress.

  “A stop?” Karus asked, wheeling about to look at Kordem. The other dragon had curled up at the far end of the clearing, thirty yards away. His head was up and he was gazing at Karus. “You did not mention this before. Why and what for?”

  You must visit the Elantric Warden first, Kordem said, and ask permission for us to travel to the fortress.

  “The Elantric Warden?” Karus felt his temper flare. “Who’s that?”

  Why had the two dragons concealed this information from them until now? Whatever their reason, it likely did not bode well.

  All of these trees around you belong to her. This is the warden’s forest and we are trespassing in one of her realms, Cyln’phax said in a tone that smacked of condescension. The warden’s people inhabit forests like this one. Be grateful, human, for had you made this journey on foot, her people would likely have killed you and anyone with you before you made it a half day’s hike into the forest.

  “What?” Karus was dismayed, glancing around. Were the people who lived here the same as the phantoms and wraiths his men had reported spotting in the trees when they had first come to this world? The ones who had killed the strange scouts and left their bodies amongst the giant trees? It was a worrying thought.

  Fear not, Kordem said, a note of finality in his to
ne. The dragon lowered his head slowly to the ground. You will be safe in our company. Now, bother us no more. We must rest. All will become clear in time. On that I promise.

  Karus looked between the two dragons and clenched a fist. He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. Incredibly frustrated, he picked up one of the packs by its strap and slung it over a shoulder. He did not much enjoy feeling helpless. He was at the dragons’ mercy and they had withheld vital information. He could not see what he could do about it now. They certainly could not go back, for he did not know the way and the forest was apparently dangerous, with a hostile people. He and Amarra were, for good or ill, stuck. There was only one thing to do, and that was to go forward and see this through.

  Karus walked to the center of the clearing, where there was some open space without any shattered and broken tree limbs. One thing was certain, he decided as he stopped and looked back at Cyln’phax. He could not trust the dragons to be open with him. Withholding information was the same as misleading. Karus set the pack down on the ground and put his helmet on the shattered stump of a tree.

  He glanced around again. He had to concede that the clearing was a good spot to rest for a few hours, especially with the sun beating down on it. He went back for the second pack. As he returned with it, Amarra joined him. She set down her packs and leaned her staff against a stump.

  “I cold,” Amarra said and shivered. He noticed the tiny puckered goosebumps on her arms, which he found strangely attractive. She sat down on a fallen trunk and started rummaging through her pack. After several moments, she pulled out a wool blanket, which she wrapped about her shoulders, and looked up into the sky. She closed her eyes. “Suns feel good.”

  “They do,” Karus said in agreement. He looked over at Cyln’phax. A feeling of deep concern once again washed over him. What sort of dangerous path were the dragons leading them down?

  “You no happy. What wrong?”

  He found her looking up at him, brow furrowed. She stood and bent over her pack. Her single braid fell over a shoulder and dangled forward. She pulled a second blanket from the bag and straightened. This one was thicker and made for camping. She laid it upon the ground over a soft bed of moss.

  “Why you no happy?” she asked when he failed to respond.

  “Friendly bunch,” Karus said, and gestured at Cyln’phax and then Kordem, “aren’t they?”

  “They are,” Amarra said, failing to pick up on his sarcasm. “Kordem is wonderful. Once suns come up, he kept me, how you say … fun, amused?”

  “Entertained?” Karus suggested.

  “He tell me stories of he and his mate and of different worlds.” She shook her head in amazement. “He point out places we fly over. Did Cyln’phax do same?”

  “No,” Karus said, casting the female dragon an unhappy look. “She was rather reserved.”

  “Reserved?” Amarra asked, looking up at him. “What mean?”

  Karus thought a moment on how to explain it. “Distant, cold, not too friendly. She said little to me.”

  “Not friendly?” Amarra asked with a surprised look. She turned her gaze briefly on Cyln’phax and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

  “No, not friendly,” Karus said, setting the pack down next to hers. “Do you know of this Elantric Warden they speak of?”

  “Kordem said we to talk to her about going to fortress,” Amarra said.

  “I don’t like surprises,” Karus said, feeling testy. “It would have been nice if they’d told us in advance.”

  “They not want tell you or me,” Amarra said. “They worried we say no about going to fortress and telling about warden.”

  “You think?” Karus said.

  “This her land, warden land,” Amarra said and held out both arms to encompass the entire forest that surrounded the clearing.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Karus said. “Do you know of her, this Elantric Warden? Her people?”

  Amarra was silent for a long moment, clearly thinking through what she wanted to say.

  “I know not of warden. Kordem say she spiritual leader of her people. But if people I think on”—she gave a slight nod—“then yes, I know them by talk.”

  She did not appear too happy about that. Karus’s concern intensified.

  “Are they as dangerous as the dragons say?” Karus asked. “Her people, that is?”

  Amarra inclined her head slowly in a shallow nod. “They no like other people.”

  “Like the dwarves?” Karus asked. It seemed none of the people on this world got along. “They don’t like other people as well?”

  “No,” Amarra said. “Worse, much worse.”

  “Great.” Karus ran his gaze around at the impenetrable forest that surrounded the freshly made clearing. “Just bloody great.”

  “It be okay,” Amarra said. “Kordem say we safe here. They not bother us.”

  “You said that the warden was the spiritual leader of her people,” Karus said. “Do you think she is like you, a priestess of her god?”

  Amarra closed her eyes a long moment. When she opened them, she shook her head. There was a steady look in her eyes. When she spoke, it was in a firm tone. “She not like me, nothing like me.”

  “How can you be so certain?” Karus asked. “Did Kordem tell you?”

  Amarra was silent a long moment. “High Father tell me.”

  “What?” Karus asked, at first wondering if she had misspoken. “What do you mean he told you?”

  “High Father told me so.”

  “He speaks to you?” Karus said.

  Amarra bit her lip as she studied him, once again hesitating before replying. “He no speak words I hear. Is more feeling inside.” She touched her chest. “I search, I ask and feel answer, sometimes. Not always get answer I want. It start after we visit by High Father.”

  Karus must have frowned or appeared doubtful, for her expression hardened.

  “You must believe,” Amarra said. “Trust in me as I trust in you and High Father.”

  “I do.” Karus gave a slow nod of acceptance. The great god had appeared and set them both tasks. Had he not experienced it himself, he knew he would have had trouble believing her. A few weeks ago, he would have viewed her as a crazed madwoman. Now, she was close to his heart.

  Amarra held his gaze a long moment before turning her attention to the blanket she had laid out on the ground.

  “We rest,” Amarra said and bent down, smoothing out the blanket. “Yes?”

  “Not the worst place I’ve ever stayed,” Karus said as he opened his pack and drew out a blanket of his own. He laid it out next to hers.

  Amarra straightened and moved her foot over the forest floor. She shifted some of the leaves aside. She touched the ugly scar on her right wrist.

  “You found me in prison,” Amarra said quietly and looked up at him. Her eyes became moist.

  “I did.” Karus recalled her dreadful state. She had been covered in dirt and grime and smelled plain awful when his men had pulled her out of the cell.

  “I almost lost faith.” Amarra touched her chest. “It hurt very bad. I give up everything because I believe. I watch priests I love suffer for faith. Kind, loving Father Lohert, who opened my eyes and showed me the bright within me”—she tapped her chest again—“he die. They all die because of me.”

  “No,” Karus said. “I don’t believe that.”

  “It was because of me,” Amarra insisted. “My father so angry at me. He punished them.”

  “Never believe that. They died because of your father’s decisions,” Karus said. “It is not your fault. The blame lies with him.”

  Amarra cleared her throat. “It doesn’t feel that way.”

  “It never does,” Karus said. “I’ve watched plenty of good boys die under my command. It always feels like it’s your fault, even when it’s not.”

  Amarra gave an absent nod, averting her gaze toward the trees. She wiped at her eyes. “It still hurts, so much.”

  “I w
ish I could tell you it gets easier,” Karus said.

  “When I alone in prison,” Amarra said, her gaze still on the trees, “in the dark for so long, I almost lose faith. I came close to giving up.” She paused and then in a near whisper said, “It was so hard.”

  “But you didn’t.” Karus could only imagine the nightmare she had gone through. “You held onto your faith. You persevered.”

  Amarra sucked in a deep breath that shuddered. She turned her eyes back on Karus. “After Father Lohert and others die with their faith, how could I give up? It would dishonor their memory.”

  “The High Father blessed and made you his High Priestess. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, nothing.”

  Amarra was silent for a long moment, her eyes searching his face.

  “I know,” Amarra said, her tone becoming firm, her gaze piercing. “I honor them best way I can. I carry on and spread the High Father’s love, his word. I tend his flock, help it grow.”

  “We will do it together,” Karus said, “yes?”

  Amarra’s eyes narrowed as she regarded him for several heartbeats. He sensed a slight lightening of her mood, a softening in her eyes. “You found me in prison.”

  “Let’s be honest, my men found you,” Karus said with a sudden grin. “They only brought you to me, the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes upon. I was truly blessed that fateful day.”

  “You think I am beautiful?” Amarra asked him.

  “I do,” Karus said, “very much so.”

  “Well, even if you did not find me … my hero.” A hint of a smile traced its way onto her face as she gestured around the clearing. “This much better than prison. Much better, I think.”

  Karus gave a low chuckle that died prematurely as a shadow fell over the both of them. He looked up to find Cyln’phax gazing downward.

  You both should rest. Our next flight will take us across lands overrun by the Horde, Cyln’phax said. It will be risky and dangerous. We should arrive at the warden’s palace by dusk.