The Wrath

by D Glenn Casey

  He had heard of this Garlan kid that Sigarick was training and he was supposed to be good. Supposed to be one of the most powerful wizards ever. But, Sigarick had never met or even heard of Marnell and he wanted to keep it that way.

  This was going to be fun.

  Marnell smiled to herself, as she sat in the Whitestone kitchen and remembered back to that day she first saw Garlan and how he had bravely walked the entire length of The Pit and introduced himself. Then he took her hand and kissed it and they both felt the shock of electricity flow through their arms. At the time, neither one of them knew what it meant. All she knew was her heart was lost to him at that very moment.

  Molly began moving food from the kitchen into the dining area of the great hall and as she did, Marnell could smell the great aromas of the food. She knew exactly what Garlan was talking about when he said she was the best cook in all the land.

  After she was finished setting the dining table, Molly went to the back door and called out to those in the garden that dinner was ready. Marnell got up and walked to a spot right behind Molly and watched as all the children and women came in. They all stepped into the kitchen and washed their hands and then into the dining room and took their seats.

  After they all got seated, they bowed their heads in silent thanks to the earth for providing their meal. After a quiet moment, Molly asked if anyone wanted to say anything. A young woman, about seventeen, stood up and looked at Molly. Molly sat back down and nodded to her.

  “I just want to say thank you to Miss Molly for taking us in and caring for us. I also want to thank everyone here for being here as a group. After our village was destroyed, we came here as a group and we have stayed together. I know we’re all scared for our men, our brothers, our fathers and our husbands. I ask that the spirit of the earth watch over them and protect them as they fight to rid the land of the evil that has arisen. I look for the day that they come back to us, safe and sound.”

  After she was finished, she sat down and Molly smiled and nodded to her again.

  “Eat up everyone. We’ve all worked hard today and I’m sure you’re all hungry.”

  Marnell stood back and watched the group begin eating and talking among themselves. Feeling a warmth rise up in her chest, she knew she would do everything to keep them safe and help to defeat Kerrick. She wasn’t sure how to accomplish this from her prison, but she needed to find a way.

  Marnell walked around the dining table as the women and children continued to eat. She felt her love for Molly grow even stronger, knowing she was looking after these people. It should have been expected though. Cliffrock Castle, where she and Claudious lived, was the castle that watched over Tottenham. These were her people.

  Marnell turned and walked up the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms were. Again, she didn’t remember climbing the stairs, but she suddenly found herself on the second floor.

  Peeking into a couple of rooms, she found the one that Sean had been living in. She felt a wave of warmth wash over her because she knew before Sean moved into this room, it was Garlan's.

  She walked over and sat down on the bed. Closing her eyes, she could feel the spirit of her husband in the room. She knew he had spent every night of his life for fifteen years in this room. His spirit was still very much present.

  That warmth, gave way to a wave of fear and anxiety. She didn’t know what had happened to Garlan after her last sight of him. Was he dead? Did he somehow survive the attack from the enemy soldier? She had so wanted to warn him, but she was too far away.

  She wrapped her arms across her chest, with her staff held up against her body, letting her mind go. She tried desperately to seek out the spirit of Garlan, to touch him and let him know she was safe. But, his spirit was nowhere to be found. In her mind, this meant only one thing. He had passed through the veil. It was everything she could do to deny that and remain hopeful that he was safe and alive on the other side of her prison wall.

  Stepping back into the hallway and looking out one of the high windows, she could see the moonlight streaming in and took a deep breath of the night air. The night creatures, the insects and animals were making their usual sounds.

  Then, all the sounds stopped. The whole world outside became completely quiet. The silence was broken a few seconds later when she heard the unmistakable sound of dragon wings beating the air. The tree tops visible through the window were being thrashed by the wind.

  Running down the hallway to the stairs, she found herself in the great room. The women and children heard the sound and Molly was yelling at them to get into the kitchen and out the back door.

  As the last of them disappeared through the kitchen door, Marnell turned and faced the front door, just as it exploded inward with fire. Casting a shield, the fire and wood blasted past her.

  Stepping through the door and looking up, she saw Kerrick on the back of a red dragon, his staff glowing green and white as he was getting ready to cast another fireball. The dragon was also getting ready to let loose with another fireball.

  Marnell unleashed a fireball of her own, but only Kerrick could see it.

  He laughed, knowing that she was trapped on a different plane from the dragon. He stopped laughing when the fireball hit the dragon in the middle of its chest and it screeched in pain. The dragon couldn’t see the fireball, but it certainly could feel it.

  Marnell let loose with another one and Kerrick tried to get the dragon to turn away from it, but it was too late. It caught the dragon just in front of his tail and almost knocked him out of the sky.

  The dragon decided it had had enough of this unseen terror and wheeled and started heading away, over the mountain. Kerrick was trying to get him to stop and go back, but the dragon had a mind of its own. Within seconds, they disappeared over the mountains and back into the Eastern Desert.

  ~~~~

  Molly and the others had run from the back of the castle and hid in the ditches in the field. The little ones were terrified and the mothers were trying to keep them quiet, so they wouldn’t attract the attention of the dark wizard and the dragon.

  Molly could see the dragon in the sky in front of the castle and she could see the dark wizard on its back. What she could also see, but couldn’t understand, was the dragon screeching in pain and flying in such a way that showed it was trying to get away from something. When the dragon was attacked again by the unseen force, he turned and flew away over the mountains.

  Molly wasn’t sure what she had just witnessed, but she was quite sure that something or someone had saved them.

  She got everyone up and out of the ditches, took a quick headcount to make sure everyone was okay and then got them all back into the castle.

  They moved into the great room and looked at the destroyed door and the soot on the walls from the dragon fire. She stood for a moment, looking around and all the others gathered around her.

  Thinking that it would be best to get everyone gathered up and heading up the road to Rosemoor, she looked at their anxious faces. She wondered if it had been foolish to stay here in the castle all alone, just a bunch of women and children, when all the men had left the area to go fight the war against Kerrick.

  “Okay, everyone,” she said, “upstairs and get your travel bags packed and back down here as fast as you can. We’re leaving right now.”

  “Where are we going to go, Miss Molly?” asked Nellie.

  “We’re going to Rosemoor, sweetheart.”

  As she waited for them to return, she looked around the great room. Even though she couldn’t see the young wizard standing there next to her, she could feel something.

  “Thank you for your help, whoever you are.”

  Within a few minutes, the entire group of women and children were headed north on the road to Rosemoor. What they didn’t know was that they had another tagging along with them.

  Marnell would walk every step of the way with them and keep them safe.

  Chapter 3 ~ Heading For Trouble


  Within five days, the small army had moved from Bridgehaven, to just a one day walk from the gates leading into Terranasia. A halt was called for the evening and a hasty camp was set up among the trees.

  As Jarell and Pendivall walked through the camp, they could feel the growing apprehension among the ordinary troops. They didn’t feel it from the Guildenians or the royal soldiers. So, they spent a considerable amount of time talking to those troops that were feeling it the most.

  As they sat around their fires that evening, Jarell, Pendivall, Hilde and Brinn ate their suppers and talked about what lay ahead of them. Brinn was beginning to feel the same uneasiness some of the troops were feeling, because he had been here before. He had felt the sting of an ogre’s club during the attack just a few weeks before and how it had almost ended his life.

  As they sat there, Brinn asked Pendivall, “Master, we've already seen the ogres at the gates of Terranasia. What makes you think this time is going to be different from the last?”

  “The element of surprise my boy.”

  “Who's going to be surprised?”

  “Well, they will be, naturally. They will be very surprised that we've come back after the beating they gave us last time. The last time we walked right into an ambush. We're not making that mistake again.”

  Then Jarell looked at Brinn and said, “Brinn, I don’t think you need to worry about the ogres this time. Last time you came here, you didn’t bring over one hundred royal soldiers. Those soldiers are just looking for a battle with the ogres. I’m guessing that they are hoping there are at least one hundred ogres at the gates, so they can each have one to kill.”

  Hilde reached out and squeezed Brinn’s arm.

  “We’re going to be just fine.”

  “Well,” said Pendivall, “I’m taking these old bones to bed. Brinn, don’t stay up too late.”

  “Yes, master. I’ll be along in a few minutes.”

  The elderly wizard stood up and headed toward where their sleeping mats were set up. Jarell watched him go and then he stood up and said, “I’m going to make one more round through the troops and then head for bed myself.”

  He looked down at Hilde and she said, “I’ll wait for you here. I want to talk to Brinn for a moment.”

  “Hmm. Okay, I’ll see you when I get back.”

  He turned and headed into the trees and disappeared among the troops.

  Hilde considered the young apprentice and didn’t say anything at first. She just studied him. He picked up a stick and stirred the coals around in the fire, trying not to meet her gaze.

  “What was it like, the last time you went to the gate?”

  “It was terrible, Lady Hilde. My master was struck down immediately and there was nothing I could do. Sean was wounded and taken out of the fight quickly and that just left me.”

  “From what I understand, you killed an ogre trying to defend your master and friend. How many young apprentices do you know that have killed an ogre?”

  “They almost killed me.”

  “And yet, you are still alive.”

  “Only because Master Garlan entered my mind and prevented me from crossing through the veil. He convinced me it wasn’t my time to go.”

  “And was he wrong?”

  “No, m’lady!”

  Hilde nodded and then said, “Let me tell you something about you apprentices. Blair showed amazing strength, fighting off Kerrick and his red dragon when they attacked Greenvale. And Sean? Oh my goodness. In that battle in the Eastern Desert, he waded right into the midst of the fight, casting shielding spells and helping any of the troops that he could. He even helped Jong bring down an ogre, and Captain Jong was quite grateful. He fought alongside the bowmaidens and protected them as best he could.”

  Looking steadfastly at him, she could see she was starting to get through.

  “Even though you three are the youngest of all on the battlefield, I feel better knowing that you’re there, fighting with us. Maybe, when this is all over, you’ll have your own tales to tell to Blair and Sean.”

  “Well, they already know I killed an ogre.”

  “There you go,” she said with a smile.

  “I guess I should think about looking after the bowmaidens,” said Brinn.

  Hilde giggled and said, “While I’m convinced they will appreciate your help, they can look out for themselves. Do not put yourself in any unnecessary danger trying to protect them. They won’t like it and the first person they will tell is Millicent, when we get back.”

  Brinn pursed his lips as he thought about the wrath he would feel if Millicent heard he had done something stupid in the middle of a battle.

  “You really love her, don’t you?”

  “I do. I think she’s the one for me.”

  “You think? Didn’t you feel the sign the first time you touched her?”

  “He wouldn’t feel the sign.”

  They both turned and saw Jarell walking back into the firelight.

  “He wouldn’t?”

  “No, sweetheart,” said Jarell as he sat down, “he won’t feel the sign until after he passes his trials and becomes a full, master wizard.”

  “But, I love her,” said Brinn. “Are you saying that I might possibly never feel the sign with her?”

  “That is correct and you won’t know until you become a master wizard. It makes no difference whether you love her or not.”

  “Well, then how did Garlan feel the sign the first time he touched Lady Marnell? He wasn’t a master wizard at the time.”

  “Yes, but you’re forgetting one thing. Lady Marnell had already been to the Land of the Dragons and passed her trial there. She was already a master wizard and only needed to defeat Garlan in the duel to get her staff.”

  “Oh,” said Brinn. “So he didn’t feel the sign because of his own abilities. He felt it because of hers.”

  “Right and if he had been smart, he would have run as fast as he could to get out of that pit. There was no way he was going to best her in the duel.”

  “Okay,” said Hilde, “then that brings up a problem.”

  Jarell looked at her and could read her face.

  “Blair,” he said.

  “Yes, I was just assuming it was the shock of the sign that caused Lissette to fall back into her coma, when they first touched hands. You’re saying it wasn’t?”

  “That is correct. Something else caused her to react to him when she saw him.”

  “What do you think it was?”

  “Honey, I don’t know. Her mind is closed to all of us, including her sister and has been ever since it was invaded by Kerrick. She has definitely not told us everything about his attack on her.”

  “I felt so bad abandoning her there like that.”

  “We all did, but she is being looked after by the best of the healers. Trust in them to do their best work with her.”

  The conversation lagged and Jarell stood up and held out his hand to Hilde.

  “I think it’s time for all of us to get some sleep. We should be meeting with the scouts in the morning and then quite possibly, trying to breach the gates.”

  Hilde took his hand and stood up and Brinn stood up, too. As they walked to where the wizards had set up their sleeping mats, they could hear some pounding on steel, somewhere across the encampment.

  “What is that sound?” asked Brinn.

  “That is the blacksmiths hammering out something. I wanted to see what they were working on, but they sent me away.”

  “They sent you away?” asked Hilde.

  “Yes, they did. Said it was going to be a surprise. I didn’t argue. You ever see the arms on those blacksmiths? They’re as big as the royal soldiers’ arms.”

  “Hmmm. A surprise,” mused Hilde.

  ~~~~

  The next morning after the morning meals were taken, the troops started massing and getting ready to move out. Hilde and her bowmaidens fastened the harnesses on their dragons, getting ready for another day of flying watch over th
e troops.

  All their preparations were interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from the troops along the outer edge of the gathering. The troops began to part and the wizards and dragons watched as eight Guildenians came walking through the crowd. What was funny was each pair of Guildenians were underneath some large, metal helmets that were nearly dragging the ground. The Guildenians were holding their hands as high above their heads as they could, but it was a struggle for them.

  Jarell stepped forward and met them, and they stopped and ducked out from under the enormous helmets.

  “Okay, I can see what you were working on last night, but I fail to see of what use these extremely large helmets will be. They are much too large for the royal soldiers, and they already have their own helmets.”

  “Sire,” said the head blacksmith, “these aren’t for the royal soldiers. These are for them.”

  The blacksmith pointed behind Jarell and he turned and looked at the four confused dragons.

  “From what we’ve been told about the battle in the Eastern Desert, the dragons that were brought down by Kerrick’s troops were done in by arrows to the head. Now, we all know an arrow to a dragon’s body is useless. They will just bounce off. But, the head is vulnerable, especially the eyes and we’re going to try to protect them as best we can.”

  Jarell looked at the four helmets sitting on the ground and then back at the dragons.

  “These just might save your lives,” he said to the great beasts.

  Venia stepped forward and leaned down and sniffed at the smallest of the helmets. She wasn’t sure if she liked this idea, but she remembered how many of her fellow dragons had been brought down in the Eastern Desert and how it had happened.

  “I’m worried about the weight.” she said. “It was a struggle for you to bear them.”

  “Princess Venia,” said the blacksmith, “we are just small, Guildenians. You are a mighty dragon. These helmets should weigh no more than your riders.”