Paladin's Oath

by M. H. Johnson

  Jess gazed, stunned, aware even at that moment that her mother, ever the savvy player, had the grace to speak so softly that the lords still gazing about in shock and muttering among themselves would hear nothing of their conversation. Yet even Jess heard the nobles bandying about words like destiny and Primacy to a degree that was more than slightly alarming.

  Karine gazed coolly at Jess's mother before relaxing her gaze to one of gentle concern. "I understand it must be a shock, Lady de Calenbry. But please understand, whatever mad insight allowed Jess to unlock her deep knowing, her gift is true. Her link with the Calenbry Barony is in her blood. Think about it. Why else are your lands so fertile, your herbs so strikingly potent and precious? Because they are tended to by the true heir to your land. One who has the gift, one who can awaken it, who can see the potential in others. She showed us she has the gift to raise up the worthy, so that their own connections to their ancestral lands can once again blossom and bear fruit! What she has is a gift. Rare and precious, as valuable as all the diamonds lost in the great blue seas. She is worthy of the Royal House itself!"

  Karine looked at the still awestruck crowd of nobility raptly listening to every word being said. "All of you have seen it! All of you have seen what she has done! Tell me, any brave soul who dares, would we even be alive this day had Jess not awakened the ancient art of Claimance? Awakened the Mystery of life and rebirth, the Rites of Domain and Primacy, which our ancestors used to nurture and bind themselves to these lands for a thousand years, before war and madness destroyed all of those ancient ways?”

  To his credit, Lord Dierter, bushy mustache quivering, was the first one with the courage to answer. “Legend has it, legend has it that the old ways, besides helping to assure that the land was fertile, the crops bountiful, and our people fruitful, that besides all that, it helped to keep the darkness at bay. To keep at bay the very darkness that near consumed us all!”

  His words inspired a torrent in others.

  “Darkness, what is he talking about?”

  “Wait until the king hears about this.”

  “What are you, insane? We almost died!”

  “She committed an act of treason.”

  "She saved your arse, you damn fool!" Armond, cutting as striking a figure as ever despite his ragged appearance, gazed with contempt at several of the grumbling nobles. "What do you think was happening? You saw the skies, green as rotted flesh! We were fighting beasts out of nightmare! We were being pulled into the Shadowlands, you Jackanapes! You've all heard the rumors about the dire fates suffered in other fiefdoms of late, entire tracts of land lost to Shadow, and save for footnotes someone only reads in the following weeks by chance, we completely forget those lands had once been part of Erovering. And now, it almost happened to us!"

  Armond then bowed formally to Jess. "It is only thanks to our noble hero, come to our aid like an angel's blessing, that we are saved! Just look about you. This wonderful hall smashed near to kindling, yet by angels' mercy, our foes from Hell dissolved to skin and bone, a clear blue sky gracing fair Turnsby lands once more!"

  Jess flashed a friendly smile to Armond who winked back. Even if he had been a bit of an ass in their first encounter, he was a charming boy, Jess decided. And most importantly, when the monsters were at the gate, he was one of the few nobles who had the courage to draw his blade, slender as it was, in defense of the terrified people trapped within.

  Even as the comments and urgent whispers droned on, Jess was gently led to a chair and given a cool glass of milk. She smiled. Someone knew her second favorite drink. Soon her shaking stopped, and she looked up, gazing into Twilight's eyes. She shuddered, hit with the visceral sense that she was running out of time.

  “The clock of Fate is ticking, Jess. We must hurry.”

  Jess absently stroked her mother’s worried cheek, giving her a reassuring smile as she stood up. She turned to her sister. “Apple, where is my helm?”

  “What are you talking about, Jess? Don’t you see, you did it? Those minotaur things, they just… they just faded to light and disappeared to old tattered rugs and bones. You did it! You saved us!” Apple gave Jess a kiss on the cheek. “By Dawn's early light, I’m so proud of you! You really are a paladin!”

  Jess gazed warmly into her sister’s eyes. “Thank you, Apple. But there is someone out there who still needs help.” Jess turned to Karine. “I don’t suppose Onnika has returned?”

  Karine’s grave expression was all Jess needed to see. “No, Jess. Sadly, she has not.”

  Jess sighed and nodded. "I thought not. Helmet! Someone give me my bloody helmet!"

  None other than Johnathan helped strap on her helmet, giving her shoulder a firm squeeze, much like one would give a brother in arms. Jess smiled, missing the gesture, realizing she had been away from Highrock and her fellow Squires of War for far too long.

  “Do you need our help, Jess?” Johnathan’s offer, though hesitant, was sincere. Her guardsman, at least, understood what Jess had in mind.

  “No, Johnathan. This is one adventure I had best accomplish alone.”

  He nodded, and Jess turned to face her mother and Karine. “Karine, with your permission, I’m off for your sister.”

  Karine shuddered, then nodded. "Gods speed, Jess. But do you have any idea where she is?"

  Jess nodded solemnly. "Trapped within the realm of dreams. Your uncle is about to attempt something awful. I remember that much from my vision." Jess shuddered. "I promise you this, Karine. If I cannot save her body, I will do everything I can to save her soul."

  Karine turned pale. “Angels above, what are you saying?”

  "She's trapped in the Shadowrealms. They are a borderland between sweetest perfection and darkest desire. Untold wealth and knowledge, items of incredible power and majesty can be found there as well." Jess held up her pristine mithril longsword for all to admire, sparkling in the full light of day. "It's also the weakest barrier between our world and the Hells below. If a victim is forcefully dragged in by a necromancer, or by someone as twisted as your uncle? All too easily a gateway could be formed, and an innocent soul lost to sacrifice."

  Jess's gaze grew hard. "You may be certain I will not allow that to happen to Onnika. By my oath, I shall save your sister, Karine, and I will strike down any foe that gets in my way!"

  The ground seemed to shudder with Jess's words, and Karine gazed at Jess with a fierce strength all her own. "By your oath, I bind you, beloved Jessica, Paladin of Turnsby! You will not fall in my lands, nor yield to death's embrace until my sister is saved, and you are both free of darkest Shadow!"

  The sun seemed to flash through the shattered windowpanes with Karine's words as they resonated through the great manor. Jess couldn't help thinking that Karine looked nothing less than regal, the way the light danced about her in a brilliant corona, the sight of more than one trembling lord kneeling before her making it clear to Jess that she was not the only one moved by what she saw.

  "Ye gods, Mother. I feel like I'm in a living play," Apple whispered as Jess strode out of the shattered room.

  “Hush dear, let’s just hope our Jess comes home safely.”

  9

  “Very dramatic, oh knightly one,” Twilight teased, hopping up to perch upon Jess’s shoulder even as her walk quickly turned into an all-out sprint. Yet her legs did not tire, no matter how fiercely she ran. All she felt was a curious exhilaration, as if the very land guided and nurtured her with each step. The very whispers of the leaves and motion of the wind seemed to direct Jess unerringly to the single point of dark, ill green discord still hovering over a tiny portion of this land, blessed as it now was by a true union with its Queen. Though Jess sensed that such a title could never be said aloud after this most magical night without risking political catastrophe, the magic of Primacy recognized only one true ruler, his or her might seceded only by voluntary acquiescence, such as Karine had with Jess for a short time. And in a sudden epiphany, Jess understood why the rulers of Erovering ha
d once been called ‘The King of Kings'.

  “It all makes sense now, Twilight!” Jess’s voice was reverent with awe, even as she ran with the speed and strength of a charger in its prime, leaving her intoxicated with the heady rush of it all, a sweeter surge than apple brandy could ever be. “All those centuries of warfare; legends of adventurers multiplying after the great rebellion, the king’s ancient title. Why, despite centuries of cultivation, we still think ancient records of crop production must be in error, given their more primitive techniques. If our ancestors were accurate, their cultivated lands were so lush and fertile as to feed a population many times over what we can sustain, even today. And the heart of the matter is simply this: The ancient rulers were once bonded to their lands, just as Karine is now the true queen of Turnsby!”

  “That may be true, dear Jess. And no doubt Karine’s lands will blossom as never before, assuming she survives the political intrigue that shall follow.”

  “Twilight? Oh no.”

  “I’m afraid it’s a possibility, dear Jess. All might be well, though. When the bards tell the tale, no doubt your solemn oaths will be mistaken for poetic prose. And any who might wonder can hardly fault you using whatever tools are at hand to stop a land from sliding into Shadow.” Twilight sighed. “It all depends on how the king takes it. I know his second son is an enlightened man, but as to the king himself? I just haven’t bothered with him this time around, to tell you the truth. Yet with increased incursions from Shadow, the Crown will no doubt soon be desperate enough to try anything to stabilize the kingdom.”

  Jess shuddered. “Things have been getting worse, haven’t they?”

  Twilight’s tone turned amused. “Actually, Jess, the last few hundred years have been the longest reprieve Dawn has had yet from the clutches of Shadow. We’re simply going from a time of relative calm to one of greater upheaval once more, as storms of chaos and darkest magic seek to claw their way through the cracks between dream and reality to infect our world.”

  Her familiar's words caused Jess to shiver, the heady rush that had so infected her but moments ago was slowly being replaced by dread, and anger as well.

  “Relax, my Jess. It will take some time before the Shadowstorms are as bad as they were at their height, half a millennium ago. Nonetheless, the issue is one that inspired the evolution of the ancient art of Claimance in the first place. In addition to strengthening the bond between the ruler and his domain, it also increased the land's fertility and stabilized it in relation to the Dreamrealms. In other words, no matter how unstable things got elsewhere, those ancient rulers of Erovering that were bonded to their lands prevented them from being pulled into Shadow, even should the storms become so bad that their very lives were sacrificed for the land they loved. Much as almost happened to you this very evening, Jess, the Turnsby estates but seconds from being consumed by living nightmare. An event that had become so rare it was almost unheard of. Until now.”

  Jess shivered. "So many lives were almost lost tonight. And Karine was brave enough to accept the mantle of rulership, for the sake of her land. But let's not kid ourselves, Twilight. Master Eloquin would never forgive me if I was too cowardly to face and prepare for the most dire of possibilities. We both know just how cynical the nobles of Erovering are. It doesn't even matter if Karine's courage helped to save her lands from Shadow, corrupt nobles will try to use Karine's true bond to the land as an excuse to attempt to have her killed before making a bid for the territory themselves, counting on the taboo nature of the subject to prevent Father from protesting their bid too strongly, even as those rats try to weasel away with the Turnsby's fortunes."

  Twilight sighed. “Pretty much.”

  Jess laughed. “Well then. I guess we will have fresh enemies to kill then, won’t we dear kitty?”

  Twilight pivoted upon Jess's shoulder with an eerie grace even as she ran, sapphire orbs peering bemusedly into Jess's own. "You see Jess, that is what I'm afraid of. First, it's the ruthless slaughter of any and all who dare to cross your loved ones. Fair enough, I suppose. Far be it for one such as I to condemn a righteous bloodbath. But it never stops there, dear Jess. Oh, no. There’s always the 'these idiots who allowed this snafu to happen aren’t worthy to rule in any case, so let’s just claim dominion over all the lands ourselves' stage of things.”

  Twilight's mildly reproving gaze then turned thoughtful. "I didn't see this as one of our empire-forging turns upon the wheel of existence, but I've been wrong before. Besides, a savage and bloody reign might do these arrogant lordlings a bit of good; give them a bit more humility for their next lives, I say, and damn David and his endless scolding whenever we have a bit of fun. You're always gentle with the common folk who tend to your lands, and it's a bloody pain in the ass walking on eggshells every time we return to the garden, my Jess, catching sight of his sad gaze, his gentle sigh, whenever we get just a little bit bloodthirsty. It's not like we consigned all of existence and its many varied and delicious fishies to the Void, after all, just because we impaled a few of the nastier lords who didn't appreciate my mistress's magnanimity."

  Jess stopped abruptly and shivered, gazing upon the hideous, green rift before them, the very air shrieking its discord at the unholy union, seeing the outline of an oddly pulsating structure beyond. “I can always tell when were about to enter the Shadowlands, kitty.”

  “And how is that, dear Jess?”

  "Because you always tell me scary crap about past lives and all the terrible things I've seen and done, knowing I won't remember any of it after my first night's sleep in the mundane world!" Jess quipped, for all that she wasn't quite sure if her familiar was playing the devil's advocate to humble her own bloodlust, or if in his own mischievous way, he was actually cheering her on.

  Twilight nodded his head solemnly. "Very good, my dear Jess. But consider. For you to even recall that much says we've already been immersed within the Dreamrealms for quite some time. As far as your soul is concerned, we entered when you awoke from slumber, your sister screaming as those first abyssal horrors strode the grounds under an ill green sky. Your insights into the nature of Primacy and the art of Claimance, let alone being able to understand the symbols and wield those magics of earth and sky bespeaks of either years of studying forbidden tomes under hidden masters, or terrible intuition gained within the depths of dream.”

  Twilight gave a gentle bow of his head. "No, Jess. Such magics as you, and by your grant Karine wielded on this day could only have happened within Regio, with the very land willing for your mutual powers to blossom, even as it began to slide into darkest Shadow. Fortunate indeed it was that you remembered this art, for a link to the land of the living alone is all that allowed us to pull those hapless people safely out of Shadow without their souls being sundered. After all, you know as well as I that only those with a Delver's blood dare enter these realms without risking utter destruction."

  Twilight grinned as Jess shuddered, gazing at the sickly wound in earth and sky. A wound that screamed with the world's pain. Where Onnika was being tormented. “Yet for all that, we have just toed the waters of nightmare up to this point. We shall enter the true depths of Shadow once we cross this rift.”

  Jess took a deep breath, looking concerned. “Will they be okay?”

  "Oh, the lords and other citizens of Queen Turnsby's lands? Of course. They are under Karine's protection, after all. The two of you lifted the Turnsby Estates free of dark waters, back to the bright realm of sunlight once more. It is only you that still has her toe dipped in living dream, Jess. You did just run ten miles at a sprint equal to a stallion's pace, after all. And, inhumanly strong as you now are, that much power you can only access when you are in touch with your true potential in the Dreamrealms." Twilight grinned. "But fear not, my queen. I would not be surprised if before too long you find yourself able to perform such a feat, even when fully awake, and Dawn shall shudder at your very footsteps, for the Red Queen will have risen once more."

  Jess nodd
ed, paying only half a mind to her familiar's counsel, laughing at her fears even as she gazed into the shrieking rift. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Adventure awaits!"

  With that Jess stepped through the green rift, startling the lone village boy watching the odd woman sheathed in brilliantly sparkling mail talk to herself, before disappearing entirely. His breath hitched with awe, eyes blinking in with disbelief. Cautiously he approached that seeming empty spot of field, but felt a terrible chill that froze him to the quick. As if someone had just walked over his grave. Someone filled with malice and ill will, at that.

  Shuddering, caring not that his friends would think him a coward, the boy realized just how alone he was on that vast field that seemed to stretch eerily about in all directions, lands he had taken such comfort in, mere moments ago. He almost thought here could hear the ghostly howl of wind, though the grass lay perfectly still. With a quiet curse, the lad bolted for home, relieved to hear his loyal sheepdog barking happily at their new game, and he did not stop until he came to his mother's side, regaling her with the tale of the ghostly woman he had seen, much to his mother's amusement.

  "And what do you think of this realm of Regio, Twilight?" Jess asked, brilliant mithril blade unsheathed, even as she carefully walked through the vast, smoking landscape. The ground was comprised of gray shattered rock, pools of dark green mud bubbling and splattering all about. The land stunk of death and sulfur. In the distance, Jess made out what looked to be a giant fortress of rock amidst the backdrop of the broken landscape, capped by a massive tower that jutted out from the heart of the fortification. She could make out flickers of green light from the jagged gaps that served as windows to the shrieking horrors that lay within. Screams Jess could hear vividly, even from this distance.