by Jason Kenyon
‘Therein lies her masterstroke,’ Ithalna replied. ‘Salestis has chosen to play the martyr in her coming drama, and she will face down the Syrakh along with other devoted – or unknowing – paladins, with the full intention of losing the fight and dying in front of the assembled tournament gathering. Sir Malthanes will then defeat the Syrakh himself, be declared a hero, and take on the mantle of Supreme Commander as her chosen successor – while Salestis will be immortalised, much as her parents were, for her sacrifice.’
‘Good grief,’ Archimegadon said. ‘I can certainly sympathise with the desire to become a hero – but that seems a rather odd way to achieve it.’
‘Will it work?’ Ithalna asked. ‘I cannot say. That is how the Shield intends for events to play out, however. And it is my intention to return to Arenfel and stop them.’
‘That’s all very nice, but how do we know if any of this fascinating story is even true?’ Mellara asked. ‘You’ve not exactly been very honest with us so far.’
Archimegadon blinked. Mellara was right; he’d been so caught up in all these apparent revelations that he’d not given a moment’s thought to whether Ithalna – or Unette – was telling the truth.
‘I have nothing to back up my words but circumstance at this stage,’ Ithalna replied. ‘As a Cleric, I understand that my words may come across as deceptive, and I accept that. However, if you travel to Arenfel, I guarantee that you will find what I say to be true, and that the plan to unleash the Syrakh at the tournament is Salestis’s ultimate goal.’
‘I do not know that I want to get involved in this,’ Archimegadon said. ‘We have no personal interest in stopping things in Arenfel.’
‘Are you joking, old man?’ Anjilo asked. ‘If what Ithalna is saying is true, my old order is planning a mass murder that we have to stop!’
Archimegadon was getting a headache, and he tugged at his beard. ‘But what on earth can we do to stop any of this? There’s a gargantuan demon empowered by paladins and mages both… a band of fanatics… and trying to accost Salestis would only double up the panic caused by the King’s assassination. These events are far too much bigger than us.’
‘You are a criminal for life in Valanthas either way, so long as Salestis is in control,’ Ithalna said.
‘Maybe not if we turn you in,’ Mellara said. ‘I bet the paladins would forgive all sorts of things if we gave them the King’s murderer.’
‘It was not Ithalna who murdered the King,’ Neurion said.
‘So she says,’ Mellara said. ‘I don’t trust Clerics, not after what happened in Ferrina.’
‘Me neither,’ Tharanor said, ‘but I don’t think giving her over to the paladins will get us any favours. They’re all a bunch of…’ He glanced over at Anjilo, who had perked an eyebrow at him. ‘They are nice people who won’t stab me.’
‘Gotcha,’ Anjilo said, and winked.
‘We should be making decisions based on reason and facts,’ Neurion said. ‘There are lots of people playing their own games here, and we can only trust what we find out ourselves. Why don’t we go to Arenfel, find out what is happening, and then decide what we want to do?’
‘That was surprisingly insightful,’ Obdo said.
‘Quite,’ Archimegadon said. ‘I would perhaps be open to that… maybe.’
‘Hah, old man, you want a piece of the action – admit it!’ Anjilo said.
‘Silence!’ Archimegadon said. ‘But yes, it is difficult to sit by now that I’ve got into this sort of habit. And Ithalna is correct – as long as that ass Salestis is in charge, I don’t even get to live safe in my own country.’
‘Maybe we could join Diojin’s rebellion!’ Obdo said.
‘The last person I’d vote for to lead Valanthas would be him,’ Archimegadon said.
‘It would be nice to resolve things without the need for a full revolution,’ Anjilo said. ‘I can’t even begin to think of what we’re going to need to do to stop Salestis if this is true, though.’
‘We could just sit back and do nothing!’ Obdo said.
Everyone glared at him.
‘No, hear me out, think about it!’ Obdo went on. ‘Valia’s on her way there with her demons, right – she’ll probably kill off all the bad guys herself. Right?’
‘Valia… who can control demons… is on her way to Arenfel, where Salestis is going to unleash a giant empowered demon?’ Mellara asked, looking over at Archimegadon.
‘Erm, quite,’ Archimegadon said. ‘Ms Nightshot makes a good point – Valia in control of the Syrakh would be a catastrophe. So we now have two potential disaster scenarios to consider.’
‘I’m sure we can find out about a few more!’ Obdo said.
‘Nightshot, kindly take Obdo back to his cell in Stornis Hold,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Anyway, the plan is to go to Arenfel, which is fine by me,’ Tharanor said. ‘We don’t need to commit to anything yet after all. But what about Ithalna – or Unette – here? Are we going to take her with us?’
‘If you are not comfortable with allowing me the use of my powers, I can simply follow along and provide information when you need it,’ Ithalna said.
‘I vote we dump her back with Lord Diojin,’ Mellara said.
‘He’d either kill her, or use her as a figurehead for his rebellion,’ Tharanor said.
‘Well, I for one don’t want her coming with us,’ Mellara said.
‘I can help you out with the lay of the land,’ Ithalna said. ‘Arenfel and the palace in particular were my old home – I know them both very well.’
‘We could keep her along,’ Archimegadon said. ‘If nothing else, we can keep her out of the hands of the Shield, or Valia, or even Diojin, I suppose.’
‘Just please keep calling me Ithalna,’ Ithalna said. ‘Unette is hardly an uncommon name, but let us avoid any potential problems with that.’
‘Ithalna it is,’ Mellara said. ‘The magic binding stays on, though, and you’re not keeping watch in future either. We’ll have to bind your hands and feet overnight as well – I don’t want you running off.’
‘As you wish,’ Ithalna said. She smiled brightly. ‘At worst, I shall merely have a longer, and less interrupted sleep.’
‘I’ll kick you awake on my watch,’ Mellara said with a glare.
‘So west, to Arenfel,’ Anjilo said. ‘Got a long road ahead!’
Archimegadon sighed. So much for a peaceful retirement after Marr.
Chapter Nineteen: Trails and Trailed
Things were tense as the group set off later in the day. Now that Archimegadon knew what Salestis planned – or at least, he hoped he did – he felt a greater sense of urgency in their journey. It was not helped by the potential threat of Valia stealing control of this Syrakh demon, and he wondered what he might have done differently in his recent encounters with Valia that could have stopped or at least slowed down this turn of events.
Mellara and Anjilo had become quite hostile towards Ithalna, who seemed to be oddly relaxed about the whole situation. Her hands and feet were unbound for now, since it would have been obvious something was up otherwise, and would have slowed the group quite considerably to boot, but she did still have the anti-magic binding around her throat. All the same, she was walking in their midst in a most queenly fashion, which was clearly getting on Mellara’s nerves. Anjilo appeared more hurt by the betrayal, but was still relatively chirpy, chattering away with Obdo and Neurion about events since Aldrack.
Archimegadon found his thoughts wandering, and mused on the plan Salestis had cooked up. Was the Supreme Commander actually planning to throw her life away, to be brutally slaughtered along with other paladins by this monstrosity? If Archimegadon ever planned his own sacrifice, he most certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be gored by a hideous beast such as the Syrakh. Involuntarily, he remembered the sight of his old friends Berus and Kalissa being killed by the undead dragon in Malthair, and came to a sudden stop.
Mellara noticed first, and stepped over to him.
‘Something up, Archie?’
Archimegadon shook his head and tried to adopt a brave stance. ‘Ah, I am quite fine, madam. I was simply beset by an errant fly.’
Mellara cocked her head. ‘Alright, old man.’ She squeezed his shoulder all the same, and the group got moving again.
Archimegadon resumed his thoughts about Salestis, trying to sidestep visions of his past this time. Anjilo had said that Salestis went off around a year ago, and he pondered whether something had happened to cause this change in composure for the paladin leader. Perhaps Salestis was being controlled by some dark force, bent on making her do evil against her will.
‘Sir Mage, you are looking grumpier than usual,’ Obdo said.
‘We have a mountain of problems to overcome,’ Archimegadon said. He looked across the empty fields they had to traverse, and then the scenery beyond them. ‘Apparently, we also have real mountains to overcome eventually, as well.’
Obdo followed his gaze, and rolled his shoulders back. ‘Nothing we can’t handle, right? We beat Valia before, after all – twice, no less. And Salestis is a dumb paladin – you always say they’re no match for you.’
‘They aren’t doing too bad for themselves right now, I’d say,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Valia gave them a good kicking at Stornis Hold,’ Obdo said. ‘You weren’t there – it was a pretty one-sided fight.’
‘As far as Ithalna told me, the forces Salestis has at Arenfel are quite a bit more numerous and powerful than those that were posted at the hold,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Fair enough,’ Obdo said. ‘Still, Missy Salestis could just sit back now and let Valia kill her – everyone’ll be scared of demons, just as if they were killed by the Syrakh.’
‘She could, yes,’ Archimegadon said, ‘but that would not necessarily achieve her goals. If Ithalna is to be believed, then Salestis’s plan relies on two main features – first, that the demon should kill the Central Council specifically, and second, that this amulet of theirs will allow Malthanes to subdue the beast long enough to kill it heroically while there are witnesses. Doubtless he would not stand up long against Valia’s brutal horde – he ran away from Stornis Hold fast enough.’
‘Yeah, and he wasn’t very smart about it either,’ Obdo said. ‘Nice of him to leave us all that stuff to look through.’
‘I would enjoy booting him through a window for what he did to Ferrina,’ Archimegadon said. ‘And if Salestis is so eager to die, then perhaps we can sort that out for her as well.’
‘Whoa, whoa,’ Obdo said. ‘Don’t forget what you said before.’
Archimegadon blinked. ‘Erm, yes, quite. I wouldn’t want to destabilise things even further. All the same, after what they did to Ferrina, are you surprised that I am annoyed?’
‘Sir Mage, if a random person just wished you a good day, you’d be angry.’
‘Well, how dare they presume to speak to me,’ Archimegadon said.
Obdo grinned at him. ‘Still… think we can trust Ithalna about all this?’
‘No,’ Archimegadon replied. ‘She’s a Cleric. I’ve never met a Cleric who was after anything other than causing trouble.’ He eyed her a short distance ahead, walking under Tharanor’s watchful glare. ‘She’s also far too cheerful. If I had been caught out like her, I’d not be acting like that.’
‘Yeah, guess we’d best be careful for now,’ Obdo said. ‘Who’d have thought we’d be working with Clerics after what happened before?’
‘We’re hardly working with her,’ Archimegadon replied. ‘Unless you want to kill her off yourself, though, I don’t feel like handing her off to anyone else for now.’
‘Fair play,’ Obdo said. ‘Still, not sure I’ll sleep easy until we’ve got rid of her.’
*
It was Tharanor’s turn to be on watch that night, and he took a seat on one of many rocks that had made this place their home, perhaps rolling down from the hills nearby. The companions hadn’t made it as far as the mountains Archimegadon was dreading, and had instead found cover just inside a gathering of trees in these bramble-filled plains. It was a moonlit night, and Tharanor turned the glaive Uldraxios over in his hands, looking at the intricate patterns along its shaft, and on the flats of the blade.
There was a sound behind him, and he turned to see Mellara emerge from the shadows, idly tossing a dagger in her left hand. He gave her a questioning look, and she sat on a nearby rock and sheathed the dagger.
‘Evening, Tharanor,’ she said.
‘You need something?’ Tharanor asked.
‘I noticed you’re brooding more than usual,’ Mellara replied. ‘Doubt the others did, but I can tell when something’s up.’
Tharanor set Uldraxios to one side and sighed. ‘Maybe. Yes, I guess so.’
‘So what is it?’
‘I… I don’t know that I want to talk about it,’ Tharanor replied. He looked down at his hands, noticing a slight shake to them, and quickly turned to regard the moon instead.
‘Come on, we’re all friends here now, right?’ Mellara asked. ‘I know – I worked for Diojin. And those things happened after I tried to take the staff. But times have changed, and I’d like to know if you trust me.’
‘Perhaps,’ Tharanor said, still moon-gazing. ‘It has been a difficult few months.’
‘Yuriath, huh?’ Mellara asked.
It frustrated him that he got choked up about it still, but Tharanor found his throat tighten and had to turn from Mellara before she could see. He took careful breaths before attempting to reply.
‘I could have killed Valia,’ he said instead. ‘She was right there in Stornis Hold, and I could have avenged Yuriath at last. I had my chance.’
‘I see,’ Mellara said. ‘So what happened, then? Why did you let her go?’
‘I was in no condition to fight her again,’ Tharanor replied. ‘But perhaps I could have at least tried. I… I let her guard me as we walked around the hold. Gods, I even helped her find Malthanes’s office. Despite knowing that she killed Yuriath.’
‘What, you think you betrayed Yuriath by letting Valia go?’ Mellara asked.
‘Of course I did!’ Tharanor replied. ‘I’ve spared Valia twice now, and let her get the better of me too many times. I don’t care if Archie thinks she can be helped, I want her dead, Mellara.’
Mellara reached out and grabbed Tharanor’s shoulder, giving him a light shake. ‘Listen here, you. Yuriath and I, we were sorta friends. We talked a few times when she came down to the docks for info. Had a few drinks and such.’ She gave a sad smile. ‘But she valued being smart. You think she’d have been impressed if you just let Valia stab you to death when you were all beat up already? Nah, you did the right thing.’
‘I guess,’ Tharanor said. ‘It’s such a hard thing to work through. I don’t know what to fill my life with, now she’s gone.’
‘Probably asking the wrong girl here,’ Mellara said with a grin. ‘I became a mercenary after I lost the people who were close to me.’
‘And what am I, these days?’ Tharanor asked, returning the smile. ‘Not exactly a guard any more. I’m helping out a cultist, come to think of it.’
‘Don’t worry, if you actually were a mercenary, you’d be getting paid,’ Mellara said with a wink.
‘Comforting,’ Tharanor said.
‘Well, I tried!’ Mellara said. ‘Look, try not to get too hung up on Yuriath, okay? And if you want payback, well, I’m not one of those others – so I’m not gonna tell you to give up on it. Whatever Archie says, if I catch Valia myself, I’ll finish her off and save us all a load of trouble. And you should do the same.’
‘Would that really be what Yuriath wants, though?’ Tharanor asked.
‘It’s not about what she wants,’ Mellara replied. ‘That’s part of your problem, I think – you worry too much about things you can’t know or change. Think about what you can change instead – and that’s whether Valia survives our next meeting.’
‘We’ll have to find her firs
t,’ Tharanor said.
‘We will,’ Mellara said. ‘And when that happens, we’ll do what we should have done at Marr’s castle. Alright?’
‘Alright,’ Tharanor replied, with a faint smile.
*
The next day saw the companions heading on their way west again, with everyone other than Obdo and Ithalna looking groggy. Ithalna had been banned from going on watch for obvious reasons, while Obdo had been deemed too irresponsible to trust with the duty, so they had both been lucky enough to sleep through the entire night. Archimegadon, meanwhile, had landed the task of being on watch in the middle of the night, and as such had gone through two periods of disturbed rest on either side.
Though the mountains were still a short way off, it would not take too long to reach them, and Archimegadon found himself dreading the inevitable climb. Ithalna had delivered the less-than-promising news that they’d have to cross the mountains on their way to Arenfel, unless they wanted to detour back onto the Central Way and sneak through a heavy paladin checkpoint, since she’d tried fleeing in this direction herself when she’d left Arenfel.
So eager was Archimegadon to avoid the mountain crossing that he resorted to drastic measures to put it off once they’d reached the cover of a small patch of forest.
Ithalna blinked. ‘You want… a magic lesson?’
‘Absolutely not,’ Mellara said. ‘Until we know for sure that we can trust her, that collar is staying on.’
‘How does it unlock anyway?’ Obdo asked.
Mellara showed them a collection of six keys. ‘Good question, Obdo. I’ve got one key for each of you here. Take one each.’
The companions dutifully did so, with the exception of Ithalna, who watched with apparent amusement.
‘Only one of these keys is the correct one,’ Mellara said. ‘Each day we’ll mix them up and take a new one.’
‘What is this nonsense in aid of?’ Archimegadon asked.
‘In case princess here tries to off me and run away with the key to her shackle,’ Mellara replied. ‘Now she’ll have to take us all out, or be really lucky with which key she steals.’