Mighty Hammer Down

by David J Guyton

After they had eaten and purchased some new supplies, they weaved their way back to the building with the colored glass window. They took in the sight once more before heading back to the stables where they left their horses. Alana had taken the long way so that they could see all the things the Vindyri capital had to offer. Unlike the picture she had painted, the city was quite beautiful, and not the dull, boring city she had claimed it was. While Brinn still seemed to shine a little brighter, Burnhamheade was not that far behind. Vindyrion was a little more rustic in parts, but attractive nonetheless.

  Something caught Rommus's eye. It was the face of a man staring at him intently. His eyes were a dark blue, and peered out from under a silver hood. The fabric shined like satin and flowed down over the man's shoulders all the way to the ground. He stood still, but after locking eyes with Rommus, he bowed his head; noticeably but discreetly. Rommus was instantly reminded of the Silver Mages in his dream that bowed to him. His muscles tensed like a wild animal's; half from nervousness and half from wonder.

  "That man just bowed his head to me," he said quietly. "It's sort of what happened in the dream."

  Alana looked at the bearded Mage across the street. "He makes me nervous Rommus. No one has really noticed us here so far. What should we do?"

  "We must confront him. I can't let this go without checking to see what all of this means. Come with me."

  When they reached the man he shrank back slightly, but he did not appear to be frightened. It looked as if he moved back more out of respect than anything else; much like a man might avert his eyes when an Emperor walks by. Rommus found it odd that the man's hood was not as large and loose as the hoods of the Black Mages in Medora, and it did a poor job of covering any of his features. He assumed that the Silver Mages were not concerned with keeping their identities a secret.

  "Who are you?" Rommus asked as he strode up to the man.

  "I am Silas my Lord."

  "Why do you stare at me? Why do you bow your head when all others here have ignored our presence?"

  The man had a strange look of confusion in his eyes and paused before he answered quietly. "Because you are the god of war. Are you not Arius, sent here in human form to walk among us?"

  Rommus stared intently at the man. "Before I answer that, what makes you think that I am Arius?"

  "I saw the sword, and then I saw your eyes. You are no ordinary man. You are Arius, are you not?"

  "I carry Archenarius, don't I? Is it your desire to kill me then? Does Inshae command it?"

  "My Lord, we must not discuss things here on these streets. There are many ears and eyes watching and waiting. You must come with me."

  "So that you can kill us? I think not."

  "My Lord, I do not have the power to kill a god, and if I did, I would never do so. Please come with me to a secret place where we can talk."

  After sharing glances with the other two and getting only shrugged shoulders as a response, Rommus reluctantly decided to follow the man. He kept his hand on the hilt of his sword as the man took them away from the busy streets and into an alley. Behind one of the stucco buildings he pushed open a door that was disguised to look like part of the wall. Inside the dark building were wooden steps that led down to a candlelit room. There were more than 100 candles all over the tables and shelves, so the room was fairly bright and books and scrolls could be seen strewn messily about.

  "Pardon the mess my Lord. We have been very busy lately. This room is magically sealed, so we are safe to speak here. No one will hear us."

  "No one will hear us scream you mean," Alana said.

  Vohl gently touched her shoulder and whispered to her. "He cannot hurt us. I have power over him like I had power over you when you looked in my eyes. You are safe."

  "I only followed you here because I have had visions that have guided me here. I have seen you and your kind in my visions, but know that if you make one wrong move, I will send you to the void in an instant. You will not even ever meet Inshae."

  "I mean you no harm or disrespect Arius. Please forgive me if I have disrespected you. I do not wish to meet Inshae, but I do not wish to go to the void either."

  "I thought you worshipped Inshae."

  Silas stared at him, obviously confused. "No of course not. Silver Mages worship the gods of light. We despise Inshae and all of his followers." The man eyed them all suspiciously. After some hesitation, he spoke again. "You aren't the god of war, are you? I feel the power of a god in you, and yet, something is not right. You should know that I mean you no harm. You should know that Silver Mages do not worship the god of death. I thought you had come to us to help with the coming war; to give instructions on what to do about the innumerable troops waiting outside the city. Something is not right."

  "What do you mean innumerable troops?" Alana asked as she leaned against a wall.

  "The Bhoors. Their entire army sits and waits just to the east of this city. They have been motionless for nearly two weeks. We all have had no choice but to return to our daily routines as we wait to see what they do. I fear there can be no victory, even with the spells we have learned that will aid the army in war. Just their presence is destroying our agriculture as they feed off of the land. Even King Weryn seems to have lost all hope, although we do not speak with him directly."

  Rommus sighed and wiped a hand down his face. "Look, Silas," he said, "I am not the god of war, but I support the Vindyri in this matter. I am not fond of any Bhoors. I know that they are a dangerous people and I do not trust them. I am sorry that I misled you about who I am. I do bring you news though. Medora has sent troops to help in the war. Before I left I spoke with the one of the Legion Commanders and he is bringing 40,000 men with him."

  "You mean Commander Soterus?"

  Yes. How did you know his name? Has he arrived already?"

  "Yes he showed up more than a week ago with his men. Another wave of men came behind him, but after seeing the number of Bhoors positioned outside the city, they fled to the nearby hills to avoid detection while they formulated a plan. He has sent riders back to Medora requesting additional troops."

  "There are enough Bhoors to make 40,000 Medorans run and hide?" Alana asked with wide eyes.

  "Not exactly. They didn't run from the Bhoors, they just didn't want to alert them to their presence. But I assure you that any man in his right mind would run from that army."

  "I'm amazed that he got here that far ahead of us, but I guess we have not taken the most direct route," Rommus said. "I wish that there was something I could do to help Silas. I'm sure that Medora will send more men. If you have any questions perhaps we might know some piece of information that will help you."

  Silas stroked his blonde beard. "I do have a question burning in my mind. If you are not the god of war, where did you get his sword Archenarius?"

  "It's not the sword of Arius, it only appears to be. It's a sword I stole from the Mages in Medora. Where I come from, the Mages worship Inshae."

  "Oh they worship Inshae here as well, but you are referring to Black Mages. The Silver Mages here in Vindyrion overpowered the Black ones long ago, but the Black Mages still rule in Medora. The Black ones here are forced to meet in secret, for if they are discovered we will kill them. I know that most decent people would call that wrong, but they are too dangerous to let them live. Even in their crippled state they can do terrible damage to this nation. We believe that they are part of the reason that the Bhoors have been able to infiltrate our lands, but we cannot be sure. All we can be sure of is our own actions and our sense of honor. But speaking of honor, what manner of man finds it just to steal a sword from people; and dangerous people at that?"

  "You insult me sir and you do not know me. Those men tired to kill me. I was barely aware of the sword in my hand as I ran away from them. They are evil people, as you claimed yourself. I find it odd that you believe that killing them is permissible, and stealing from them is not."

  "Perhaps I misspoke, my friend. I did not mean to offend," he
said with a disarming smile. "I'm sorry I didn't catch your names."

  "I am Rommus, this is Alana, and that is Vohl," he said, nodding to his companions as he did so.

  "You are Dirujen, are you not?" he asked Vohl, but he avoided looking him in the eyes.

  Vohl bowed deeply at the waist. "Vohlhemoneer Dirujen, Master Silas. Most call me Vohl."

  "How is it that a Dirujen has crossed the seal?" he asked.

  "The seal has fallen, Master Silas. I needed only to walk through where it once stood."

  "Oh that is troubling," he said. "We have enough problems with an army at our gates. We do not need any ancient beasts invading our lands; especially not now. Have other Dirujen crossed the seal as well?"

  "I'm sorry Master Silas, I do not know. I came alone and I have been alone in the world for some time."

  "I understand. Well we can only hope that at least some have stayed in your land to control the beasts. None on this side have spoken with a Dirujen for countless years." He sat down in a chair and pulled at his beard. "I am sorry for taking up your time my friends. I would not have brought you down here but I truly believed that you were Arius. You should be on your way, but please tell no one of this secret place. Be careful on your journey and wherever it leads you. It would be best for you to leave this city as soon as possible."

  "We will be on our way," Rommus said as he flipped his cape behind him. "I'm sorry that we can do no more to help you. I wish you luck in your war against the Bhoors. I hope that Arius--the real Arius?is on your side."

  The three of them turned and went up the noisy wooden stairs and back out into the city, their eyes narrowing as they adjusted to the harsh rays of the bright sunlight. They left the alley and meshed with the people on the crowded street, making their way back to where they left their horses. As soon as they were far enough away from the crowd, Alana spoke.

  "Why did you tell him all that? How could you trust him with that information?"

  "What information do you mean?"

  "You told him about the Medoran army coming to aid the Vindyri. You told him about the sword you stole."

  Rommus grinned at her and turned his gaze to the street before them. "I wasn't 'telling' him anything Alana. I was testing him."

  "What do you mean?" she asked as she flipped her hair over a shoulder.

  "I knew that Soterus and his men would get here before we did, although I didn't think they would be more than a week ahead of us. I also know that Silas would be aware of the approximate number of soldiers. When he knew the name of the Commander, I knew that he had dealt with him, and since he is still alive, Soterus must have trusted him.

  "As far as the sword goes, I answered his question truthfully so that I could gauge his response. He did not appear to desire the sword, and only looked at it twice. If he was really concerned about it, he would have done something or said something to get closer to it. I wanted to know if his intentions were to take it from me, and I was prepared to cut him down if he made a move for it. I needed to find out through him if the Silver Mages here can be trusted or not. So far, like my dreams have shown me, they can be trusted."

  Vohl cleared his throat. "What good does that do us, Master Rommus? Do you intend to stay here and fight in this war? Why does it matter to you if these Mages can be trusted?"

  "Because Vohl, this war is more important than my own agenda. I don't intend to fight in it, but if he had said something that I thought was suspicious, I would stop what I was doing and find Soterus to warn him. It's also in our best interest to know if we have to be on guard the whole time we are here, wondering if a Silver Mage will attack us or not. On a personal level, it also matters to me because I am trying to interpret what my dreams are trying to tell me, and Silver Mages always bow to be in my dreams."

  "I understand Master Rommus. But I am still confused about why you follow the path you see in your dreams. Even if they are more realistic than others, what do you hope to accomplish?"

  "It's hard to explain Vohl. I feel like I have done nothing in this world. It's like I blinked and suddenly I was no longer a boy, and life rushed past me before I was ready. I never found any purpose. I never found anything to believe in. Everywhere I look I see only darkness and failure. No one seems to like me. I feel like the only way I can affect the world is if I die. Then maybe people will be affected by things I have said."

  "Rommus," Alana said in surprise, "that's no way to talk."

  "I don't mean that I want to die Alana. I just think that people stop listening to people after a while, and it sometimes takes tragedy to put things back in perspective. But I don't mean to sound so bleak; my point is actually an optimistic one. Something is finally pulling me. I can finally see a light in the darkness. I know my reasons are little vague, even to me, but what really baffles me is why you two are coming with me."

  Vohl ran his fingers through his hair, obviously finding it difficult to come up with the words he needed. "I have not wanted to tell you why I am going to the Land of the Gods. I feared that you would treat me differently if you knew my intentions, but judging from what you just said, perhaps you will understand after all.

  "I am on my way to the Land of the Gods to demand that the gods kill me. I do not really want to die, but living a life away from the people I loved is not my idea of happiness. I wish to be with them in the world beyond this one, for I too have no purpose in this world. With the gift of immortality comes the terrible price of being alone. I have nothing left to fight for, and I have grown tired of looking for such a purpose."

  "I think I understand Vohl. Maybe we are more alike than we thought. I don't judge you for wanting to be with your loved ones, although if you were gone, Alana and I would surely miss you. I hope that between here and the Land of the Gods, we all find our purpose, and there will be no need to let the gods take you--at least not yet."

  "Thank you Master Rommus," he said as he turned his head away from them to hide his emotions.

  "What about you Alana? Why have you come all this way? Why do you still travel north when you could go home and be done with this mess?"

  "Because of you," she said without hesitation.

  "What do you mean?"

  "There was a time when I wasn't sure what was making me follow you. I felt like we needed each other for protection, but we have not had any trouble in a long time. I think we are past the danger now, but I still felt like coming with you was the right thing to do. It's a feeling I have deep inside me that I can't ignore. You always talk about finding your light, your purpose. Well Rommus Tirinius, you are my light. I follow you now because I can not imagine it being any other way."

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