Immortal Swordslinger 3

by Dante King

  “But they’re coming for us!”

  “We don’t know that.” I looked past her into the cave. “Who has the keenest eyes in your group?”

  “Elorinelle.”

  “Wake her up.”

  Two minutes later, the elf stood with us and looked along the valley. Her eyes narrowed as she peered into the distance.

  “Definitely warriors,” she said. “Armed and armored and in Gonki uniforms. They’ve sent scouts ahead, and that main column is the most troops I’ve seen march out of Hyng’ohr in years.”

  “Are they coming this way?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I can’t tell. Right now, they’re simply marching up the valley. The scouts are running everywhere, so that doesn’t tell us anything. But they’re bound to catch us, aren’t they? I mean, why else would they march out now?”

  I considered the possibilities. This might have nothing to do with us, but that was unlikely in the extreme. My companions and I had recently arrived in the valley, upsetting an equilibrium that had been working for Gonki’s corrupt rulers. If they weren’t already planning moves against Tahlis, then they were fools, letting an Augmenter that powerful run rebellious against them. By offering such open defiance, we’d become the light to the fuse that would ignite the powder keg of Gonki.

  But just because this related to us didn’t mean the trouble was heading straight for our cave.

  “Lord Ganyir’s brother, Targin, has guards who watch the valley,” Elorinelle said. “They might have seen us roaming around.”

  “Or maybe Mahrai might have sent men after you, Swordslinger,” Choshi added. “Tahlis told us what you did. Mahrai isn’t one to be slighted like that.”

  “If that’s the case, then they’re likely headed for the Sunstone Temple.”

  I wouldn’t be there, but Kumi, Vesma, and Kegohr would be.

  “What do we do?” Choshi asked.

  “What do you think?” I replied. “We kick the rest of the class awake and get moving. We need to reach the Sunstone Temple before that army does.”

  Chapter Ten

  We raced out of the cave and down the hillside, our packs on our backs and weapons at the ready. Sharp-eyed Elorinelle led the way, watching for any scouts who might have come in this direction. Onvar accompanied her to keep her steady and offer his own obsessive attention to detail. I was behind them, along with Choshi and Drek. Zedal and Fig brought up the rear.

  We stalked across the macabre ground of the desert boneyard, between cairns to the memories of men and women long since forgotten. Their bones protruded from the ground, pale reminders that all things must die. I wondered if any of us would be remembered when we had lain in the ground as long as these people. But I would ensure I left my mark on the Seven Realms, and that meant I wouldn’t be dying today.

  We moved as fast as we could without drawing unnecessary attention. The army was moving slowly now, but its scouts could pen us in if they banded together. Our best chance of getting through came from not being seen or facing a fight before we stood with our comrades at the temple.

  Instead of heading straight across the valley and then taking the road, we went diagonally southwest across the boneyard, past more monuments, and out through a set of standing stones at its bottom corner. Those stones towered over us like ancient, weather-blasted giants, gray lichen crumbling to dust on their sides.

  “Do you know who built these?” I asked as we passed beneath the long shadows of the stones.

  “Nobody does,” Choshi said. “But everyone knows that such things must be left in place, or risk angering the spirits. Some say demons live within the stones.”

  I shuddered at the thought of demons. I’d met dragon spirits who claimed to be demigods, and they seemed honorable, at least. But if demons existed in this world, they would be something else altogether.

  I put aside the thought as our diagonal route gave us a chance to get ahead of the advancing column. As we left the boneyard and headed out across former farmland toward the river bed, we were almost running parallel with the Gonki army.

  “We could attack them now,” Drek said. “Catch them in the flank.”

  “Yes,” said Zedal. “A surprise attack, before they are expecting to face anyone. With our combined powers, we could easily kill them, just like we did the plumed snatcher matriarch.”

  I smiled grimly. A fight with a few monsters had boosted their egos, but it hadn’t done much to make them more powerful, other than learning a single technique.

  I looked at the advancing column. The idea wasn’t without its merits, but I preferred to fight with the others at my side. Still, in spotting the opportunity, Drek was showing his gift for battle. But I couldn’t have them running off to fight until we’d joined with the others.

  “Those are people from your city and your clan there,” I said. “Maybe people you know. Maybe people you’ve drunk with, eaten with, gossiped with. Are you really ready to kill them?”

  Drek opened his mouth to speak, then paused, watching the column. We were too far away to make out the detail of faces.

  “I don’t know,” Drek admitted. “I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

  “You’re just initiates,” I said. “There’s no shame in not being ready for that question. It’s one thing to attack the followers of the Straight Path, people who have already committed themselves to an evil way. But others will be fighting alongside them, people who are just trying to do their duty to their lord and their clan. Taking them on is very different.”

  “I understand,” Drek said, stroking his beard. “But can we give up our chance because of that?”

  “It may not be such a good chance,” I said. “I’m sure you’re right that we could defeat them if they’re ordinary warriors. But what if there are Straight Path disciples in there, Augmenters with more power and experience than you? What if Mahrai has come along? What happens then?”

  “You’re right, Master. Thank you for guiding me.”

  “Just doing my job.”

  And it was my job now, wasn’t it? Not just a hero on a quest but a leader, a teacher, someone shaping and directing upcoming Augmenters. I’d come a long way since I woke up in this world less than a year before.

  Smoke drifted up from the sand-sunken village ahead of the main column’s line of march.

  “What’s going on over there?” I asked Elorinelle.

  “Some of the outriders have stopped in the village.” She peered across the valley with one hand shading her eyes. “They’re lighting fires, but I’m not sure why.”

  “Cooking fires,” Onvar said. “It’s the Gonki way to rest and feed the troops before a big attack so that they go in at their best.”

  His conclusion proved correct. As the main force approached the village, they stopped, laid down their weapons, and started gathering around the fires.

  I halted our advance and gathered the initiates.

  “This is an opportunity for us,” I said. “Sooner or later, we’re going to have to cross the riverbed and the road to get to the mountain trail. That means risking exposure to their scouts and anyone who’s paying attention. If we go now and go quickly, we can get across while they’re resting and distracted. We’ll need to be even more careful, as we’re close to them, but it’s our best chance.”

  This time, I took the lead. Keeping low and moving from cover to cover, we advanced down the side of the valley and into the dried river bed. We were at our most exposed as we hurried across that expanse of sun-baked ground, and I kept my eyes peeled for scouts. But the army’s attention was on events on the far bank and further down the valley. Nobody was watching the former river we were traveling down.

  Near the far side of the river bed, we turned and hurried west. Now, the terrain worked to our advantage since the bank here was steep and covered with the protrusions of old rocks and withered reeds. It provided perfect concealment for us from the army as we passed only a hundred yards from the road and the advancing column.<
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  The risk now was that we would be heard, and when Drek lost his footing and slid down the bank, my heart raced. But the noise of a single falling dwarf and the rattle of tumbling stones was lost beneath the thudding of feet and the conversation of warriors staying entertained while they marched. Drek hurried back into cover, and we continued safely on our way.

  We overtook the marching column and were just past the sand-sunken village before the bank became shallower and we needed new cover. It was time to cross the road.

  The army had two scouts watching the route ahead. Perched on outcroppings west of the village, they were both facing the Sunstone Temple, their bows resting in their laps. If we tried to cross anywhere between here and the bottom of the stairs, they would see us straight away. We would have to pass behind them and hope that no one from the village emerged as we went.

  I summoned a Plank Pillar, smaller and less powerful than the ones I used in combat. The Vigor shot from me, down through the ground, and up into the dunes to the west. The pillar emerged out of sight of the scouts, but the sand around it shifted and drew their attention.

  A scout pointed toward the shifting sand. “What’s that?”

  The other stood and raised her bow.

  I nodded to my students. Onvar, Choshi, and Drek hurried silently across the road behind the scouts and into the cover of the dunes on the far side.

  “Maybe it was nothing.” The second scout glanced back toward the village. “Should we tell someone?”

  “Tell them we maybe saw something move? Yeah, that’ll go down well. You know what happened to the last scout who sent word of a breeze blowing a little sand. Cover me while I go take a look.”

  The first scout got down off his rock vantage point and walked cautiously down the road toward where the movement had been. The other guard kept her bow raised as she watched him.

  At my nod, the initiates hurried across the road. I followed them while keeping my eyes on the scouts.

  “Looks like some old buried planks,” the first scout said. “They must have fallen and disrupted the sand.”

  I flung myself into the cover of a dune just before he turned to look back.

  When he’d returned to his vantage point, we left the scouts behind and headed through the dunes, closer to the mountains at the valley’s southern edge. Once we were well clear of the road, we turned west once more, through dunes, rock outcroppings, and steep foothills. The landscape provided lots of cover, but we didn’t know how widely dispersed the Hyng’ohr army’s scouts were. We moved only as fast as caution would allow, and I was grateful for the almost camouflage-like sandy colors of the initiates’ robes.

  From time to time, we had to cross an expanse of open ground. Before those crossings, I would pick one of the initiates and get them to summon a Sandstorm. The swirling sand provided concealment as we ran from one dune to the next. If the scouts noticed the movement, then they would arrive too late to find us. Even our tracks would be covered by the eddies of sand.

  Halfway to the temple steps, we stopped to rest and rehydrate. As we sat gulping from our water skins, Zedal turned to me.

  “Swordslinger, could we not ambush the army now?” she asked. “We’re well ahead of them and have time to prepare.”

  “Yeah,” Onvar said. “We came out here to help fight back. We’ve hidden and run enough.”

  I couldn’t help smiling at their spirited approach. But I also couldn’t help imagining what would happen if we took on that whole army now. These initiates had struggled in the face of monsters. How much more would they struggle to fight with all their strength against familiar faces? Half of them would surely freeze up, and none would be at their best. This wasn’t the time to risk their lives.

  “Patience,” I said, using my best approximation of a master’s tone. “We’ll get back to the temple to make the most of our people and the terrain. Then, you’ll get your chance to fight.”

  “You’re the great master,” Choshi said after they’d discussed among themselves. “We will follow you.”

  “Let’s get going again.”

  We’d only been walking for another five minutes when I saw something in the dunes to our right. The sand shift ever so slightly, following a path that ran parallel to us. Someone was following us using Hidden Burrow.

  I stopped, closed my eyes, and focused on one of my newer powers. Vigor oozed through me, heavy, thick, and powerful. I directed it into the ground around where our pursuer was hidden, turning sand into the dense quagmire of Mud Entrapment.

  A figure burst from the ground, spluttering. He wore the familiar robes of the Steadfast Horn Guild, caked in mud. He wiped it from his face and glared at us.

  “Well, well, well,” he said. “Here are some familiar faces.”

  “Trohai,” Choshi said with a small, nervous bow. Around her, the other initiates had frozen in place, hands clenching their weapons more tightly than usual.

  “So, you kids have thrown your lot in with a traveling pack of idealists,” the mud-stained Augmenter said. “I always knew you’d end up dead of stupidity.”

  “Who’s this jerk?” I asked.

  “Trohai, a disciple from the guild,” Choshi said. “Be careful, Master Ethan. He’s a strong Augmenter and deadly with that sword.”

  “A disciple of the Straight Path too, I’m guessing.” I placed my hand on my sword as he reached for his own. We were far enough away from the enemy army, so I didn’t have to worry too much about my Augmenting attracting attention.

  “I have found the righteous path,” Trohai said as he dragged himself out of the mud. “And now, it seems I’ll have to teach it to you.”

  He stamped a foot. An Earth Strike rippled out through the ground toward the initiates. I moved fast, grabbed Elorinelle and Fig, and flung them clear. But the others, still frozen by the sight of a familiar and daunting foe, were hit by the full force of the strike and flung from their feet.

  I reached deep inside for my new powers again. This time, I called up a Mud Geyser. The Vigor flowed through me, down into the ground, and across to where Trohai stood. It burst out, forming a pillar of mud that engulfed the Straight Path Augmenter. It took a lot of Vigor, and I could already feel myself starting to run low, but I needed to put some courage back into my pupils, and the best way to do that was to show how little they needed to fear.

  “What is this shit?” Trohai sputtered as he tried to push away the mud all around him.

  I pulled forth a more familiar element. Heat blazed down my arms and became a flaming ball through the power of Untamed Torch. I flung it at the mud-covered figure, then summoned another Torch, and another. As each one hit the mud around Trohai, water hissed away in a cloud of steam. The mud was baked hard by the heat and turned it into a solid clay shell.

  Trohai grunted and strained, but a last Untamed Torch turned even the mud around his feet into a solid, unyielding mass. He was like a human statue, frozen in place by the combined strength of my techniques.

  “You bastards!” he growled through a gap in the mud. “I’m going to fuck you up for this.”

  “Sure you are, buddy,” I said. “Just as soon as you finish your stint as a garden ornament.”

  The initiates laughed shakily as they picked themselves up off the ground.

  I looked them in the eyes, each in turn, before I took the Sundered Heart in both hands. “Now, Trohai, you will die.”

  I swung the sword in a wide arc, and Trohai’s head toppled from his shoulders in a fountain of blood. The initiates gasped, and I wiped the blood from my blade before I sheathed it.

  “Let’s be clear on one thing,” I said to them. “You might have friends and family inside the city, but I don’t. If you can convince them not to fight alongside the cultists, then I will spare them. But should they choose to stay with my enemies, then they will fall before me.”

  This was my most important lesson to them. We’d had our fun killing monsters and camping out in the desert, but this was diffe
rent. This was a war between those who would do good and those who would do evil. My path wasn’t the Path of Peace but the Path of the Swordslinger. I didn’t really know what the latter entailed, which is why I planned on carving it out for myself.

  “Come on,” I said. “We’ve wasted enough time. We need to keep moving.”

  None of the initiates spoke; they simply followed as I made for the mountain steps leading up to the Sunstone Temple. The faster pace got the initiates’ blood pumping, and they were far more serious and determined after I’d shown them what was at stake.

  Tahlis met us at the bottom of the stairs. “I see there are people out in the valley.” He gestured at the smoke from the army’s cooking fires. “So many men and women coming out for a picnic.”

  “I think they might want us to join them,” I said. “And then, it won’t be so nice.”

  “We’ll need all hands ready. How did the initiates do in the field?”

  “Go on,” I said to them. “Spend some time in meditation and think about what cost you’ll have to pay should you choose to fight.”

  They all bowed to me and Tahlis before they went into the temple.

  I filled Tahlis in on what we’d done and how the students had performed, both individually and as a group.

  “They all have serious potential,” I said. “The problem is that they’re young. Untested in real combat. They’re definitely not ready to fight a war against seasoned fighters and experienced Augmenters.”

  “Maybe,” Tahllis said. “Or maybe you underestimate the difference you’ve made. They seem somber.”

  “That was a recent change. I showed them something before we came back to the temple. Something that made them seriously consider what they might need to do.”

  “You didn’t kill a cat, did you?” He grinned at me and winked.

  “We should prepare for when the soldiers storm the temple,” I said, ignoring his poor attempt at humor.