by R J Hanson
He watched, helpless, as Reddok (who had been ‘Red’ to Gallis for over thirty years), was weighted down by arrow after arrow. His close friend and fighting partner for three decades was struck down by a final blow from a foe’s battle axe. A scream rose in Gallis Argenti's throat as Red’s brains and lifeblood were splashed across the horrified visage he wore.
To Gallis Argenti’s amazement, Red arose and his wounds healed immediately. Red walked to him and spoke.
“Relax old friend. It is the way of battle and war. I go to be with Roarke now. You did not fail anyone. You must learn to forgive yourself.”
“How can I?” Gallis asked.
Red turned and walked through the mist surrounding them.
“Gallis Argenti of Suethiel,” came from a rich and accented voice behind him.
Gallis whirled and drew his paired broadswords. He noticed in passing that his honed skills were again responding to his commands.
“You have no need of weapons with me, Gallis Argenti. I am no bounty hunter, nor am I a monster here to take your soul. I am Lynneare, and I am here to help you repair your soul, after a fashion.”
Gallis Argenti looked Lynneare up and down with calculating eyes.
“Why does a vampire concern himself with my soul, if not to attempt to take it from me?” Gallis asked with contempt in his voice.
“I am cursed but am not just ‘a vampire,’ however that has nothing to do with why I am here. We have a mutual friend that is going to need your help,” Lynneare said in the same calm, and rich tone. “He gave you peace for a night some months ago. He is going to put himself in grave danger soon, in the lands of Lawrec.”
“Why is that any of my concern?” Gallis asked.
“Have you so many friends that you can discount them so easily?” Lynneare asked.
“What makes you think this man is a friend of mine?”
“He gave you peace for a night,” Lynneare said, still calm. “I am one among those that understands what one night of peace can be worth. Did you know that he suffered his own inner demons that night while you slept?”
“Why would this man do that for me?” Gallis Argenti asked. “He did not even know me.”
“He did not know you, but he knew your pain,” Lynneare said. “He did it because he is one of a few truly good men that walk among us. He did it because his blood is inherited from other men who were not only deadly warriors, but of good heart.”
“Are you the Lynneare?” Gallis asked as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“I am.”
The blood drained from Gallis Argenti's face. A common vampire he could handle. Gallis had even killed master vampires. However, the prospect of battling the Lynneare was a different thing altogether.
“I have heard stories from my kin about you,” Gallis said trying to control the quiver in his voice. His throat suddenly felt very dry. “Why should I trust one of the original betrayers?”
“This has nothing to do with trusting me,” Lynneare said. “Travel to Lawrec and see for yourself. Roland will need someone of your capabilities, and he will need you soon.”
“What is your interest in this, if I may ask?” Gallis asked.
“My interests are my own,” Lynneare said. “However, you may believe me when I say that I do truly consider Roland a friend and a good man. I am genuine in my concerns for his welfare.”
“You are so concerned for this ‘good man’ yet you travel with a drow?”
Gallis Argenti surprised even the great Lynneare with his perceptive abilities. He had spotted Maloch, the Knight of Shadows and Sorrow, in Lynneare’s wake in spite of the spells used to disguise him and Maloch’s own skill at traveling unnoticed.
“Would you hear the truth?” Maloch asked. “Or have you already made up your mind?”
“I would hear what you have to say,” Gallis said. “Although, I know your kind well.”
“I seek redemption,” Maloch said.
“Don’t we all,” Gallis said mockingly.
“You spoke of the original betrayers. I was among them. My skin was once as fair as your own.”
“Liar,” Gallis spat.
“And yet I offer you only the truth,” Maloch said calmly.
Gallis Argenti awoke to see Quick Claw, his war cat, standing over him in a protective crouch, the hair on the back of his neck ridged. Gallis looked around him, but saw no danger anywhere near the camp. Gallis Argenti began to think that his visit with Lynneare had been more than just a dream.
“KyrNyn,” Gallis said to his snoring partner and friend. “KyrNyn!”
“What?” KyrNyn said, stirring from his own dreams.
“We must travel to Vanthor, in the lands of Lawrec.”
Chapter VII
Sorrow in Lawrec
The time was now fall, almost a full year from the time they left their homes in Fordir. They encountered many caravans of injured troops and displaced families heading back to Vanthor, and likely other lands beyond that were free from this war.
Roland saw the pain and sorrow in the eyes of the women that carried their dead husbands, and in the faces of the children that war had orphaned. Although Roland did not know it then, those faces would remain with him and haunt his conscience until the end of his days.
He had spoken often and proudly of the idea of defending the weak. He was shamed by those hollow words now. The need here was real for him now. It was no longer an idea of nobility to stand between evil and the innocent. It was a duty he felt deep in his heart. He felt an urge to apologize to each widow that passed and each child he saw that was hungry. He wanted to apologize for not arriving sooner, for not understanding their plight in time to help. He wanted to ask forgiveness for the brave words he had spoken when he had not yet faced the sort of pain and loss they had endured.
Marnie felt her own sort of shame. When she saw the children, many far too thin, she felt ashamed of her self-pity. She saw a farmer’s wife whose right arm had been severed at the elbow, and recently judging from the blood on rags used to bandage it. She watched as this poor woman struggled to hold her infant child using only her left arm. This farmer’s wife was only a few years older than Marnie was now.
The feelings of misery and lost hope were thick in the air. She didn’t know it then, but this was the day Marnie grew up. She had suffered loss and for months had not been able to see beyond it. Now the scales fell from her eyes and she saw the pain of others around her. She resolved then to do what she must to protect herself and those she loved any way that she could.
Roland, Eldryn, Kodii, and Marnie rode into Skult on a dreary, rainy day. They saw a few paladins, but none wore garments of rich color. Everything here was a dingy tint that varied little from the depressing gray-black mud that seemed to coat even the hearts of the men here.
They asked after several officers, but were ignored. Regular army were the only ones that the leaders here had time for.
“Mercenaries are their own to keep,” a knight with a hawk resting on his shoulder barked at Eldryn as he asked for information about the battles. “Get yourselves from my path.”
“If you wish this path to be cleared, then let’s see you clear it,” Roland said as he bladed his stance to the knight. “Or do you need to send for your squire to handle the men’s work?”
Roland’s opinion of this man was crystalized in one brief glance. People here were starving, and this courtesan was well fed. His blonde hair was carefully trimmed and cared for and hung in curls just above his green eyes. His plate armor, a fine steel, was polished and clearly had seen little combat. He wore a jeweled broad sword at his waist and a fat coin purse across from it.
“I am Sir Fynyll, and you will show proper respect to the knights of these lands!”
“I respect a man because he has earned it,” Roland said, “not because of any titles he wears.”
“Roland, there are plenty of enemies here,” Eldryn said. “We don’t need to search for new ones.”
“Listen to your friend,” Fynyll said as he turned and walked from the street.
“We have to make our own mark here,” Roland said to Eldryn as his face became a deep and dangerous red. “I will not be confined under the yolk of lesser men and their struggles for power over those around them.”
“What do you propose?” Eldryn asked.
Roland looked at Eldryn and then noticed a wagon being draw into Skult mounded with dead and injured men.
“Can we offer you any aid?” Roland asked the driver of the wagon. He was a man who appeared to be freehold farmer with the last of his worldly possessions gathered in a burlap sack that sat next to him on the seat.
“I found these troops wondering injured in the forests up river. I was on my way out of Lawrec anyway. I have done what I can for them, but that was not enough for some.”
Roland went to one of the troops that staggered wearily behind the wagon leaning against a long polearm. Roland offered him his wineskin. The soldier drank, and then lowered the skin and leaned heavily on the polearm at his side.
“That I needed,” the soldier said as he handed the wineskin back to Roland. “My thanks.”
“What were you and your men doing so far north of the battles here?” Roland asked.
“We sought a weapon in the mountains at the mouth of the river. A sword that the Prince is convinced is there. It is said that it’s a shrou-sheld like the one your friend carries. Many say it is ought but legend. We encountered a group of drow, dark elves you kin, and ogres delving in the same tunnels. They were led by a mage. We fought, but they continued to come. We were not accustomed to battling in the black of those dark caverns. Mages are difficult enough on their own.”
The soldier looked away to the north with lost hope on his face.
“If there was something there, I fear they have it.”
“Well, we have our goal,” Roland said to Eldryn.
“To become nurses at their over-crowded hospitals?” Eldryn asked.
“No, the weapon these men sought in those mountains. Claire spoke of it. If we can find it and bring it back that will be our mark. That will earn us the beginnings of a name here. Do not forget that we still have a score to settle with Yorketh.”
“We don’t even know what it is we would seek,” Eldryn said. “We have no idea where to begin looking. And we don’t know that the mage they faced was Yorketh.”
“Mages are not exactly plentiful,” Roland said. “Certainly not the sort that are sent with soldiers into the field. It must be Yorketh.”
“There was a village there,” the soldier said. “We tried to help them but were defeated. The drow and ogres that we battled went into that village and did unspeakable things. They should be easy to track from there. They hauled off a lot of loot and captured several that they would use for slaves.”
“How long ago was that?” Roland asked. A curtain of lead had fallen over his face. He was no longer thinking of the weapon or his ‘mark.’
“The town is not but a week of hard riding from here at the northern edge of the forest,” the soldier said. “I would not see two fighting men throw their lives away so easily, though. I would rather face a fallen champion than that group of drow and ogres. Their mage is a force not to be counted lightly either.”
“Roland, this is not wise,” Eldryn said.
“El, I am not going to hide here while women and children are defiled, murdered and enslaved,” Roland said. “I ride out within the hour.”
“You know that I will ride with you,” Eldryn said in his usual resigned tone.
Kodii simply nodded when Roland looked to him.
“I thank you for your time,” Roland said to the weary soldier. “Buy your men a drink on me.”
Roland handed the soldier two gold coins. The soldier stared at the coins in disbelief.
“I am Tindrakin,” the soldier said. “I would know the name of a knight so generous.”
“We are not knights. I am simply Roland, these are my friends, Eldryn, Kodii, and Mandurelle.”
“It is my honor to meet you all. May Fate smile on you and The Father spare you a few grains of his Sands of Time.”
The soldier staggered on toward the hospital that was little more than a collection of tents and tables. There was a tired, yet jovial cheer as he told the injured about Roland’s generosity and the gold.
“Did that soldier say there were drow?” Marnie asked in a low tone.
“Yes,” Eldryn said. “Drow, ogres, and a mage to contend with. Now do you see why you must stay here?
“Yes,” Marnie said in a surprisingly mature tone. “I see. I have never seen a dark elf, but I have heard stories. Not wild tales either. Stories by fighting men that were genuinely afraid of them and freely admitted it. I will be your eyes and your ears here. I will learn what I can and I will watch for your return.”
Roland watched as Eldryn led Spear Chaser to a nearby stable. Eldryn made arrangements for Marnie here in Skult as they had discussed and a short time later found Roland and Kodii where they were watering the horses.
“You know, she was starting to grow on me,” Roland said.
“Tribe,” was Kodii’s only reply.
Roland and Eldryn began to buy supplies and search for available maps of the area. They purchased two maps. Neither map agreed with the other on the finer points, however, Roland and Eldryn thought that between the two maps they should have an account of most of the area. One thing Eldryn noticed was that both maps showed the borders for the Marshes in matching detail. Nothing was known about the area within the Marshes, only the borders were marked on the maps. Within the area of the Marshes on both maps there was only the mark of the skull, death.
Roland looked over his horse, Road Pounder, and Eldryn’s love, Lance Chaser. The animals were as strong as ever but he and Eldryn had pushed hard to get this far. He had misgivings about pushing them farther on this night.
“Sir Roland?” A voice asked from behind him.
“I am Roland, no sir to it,” Roland said turning around. He saw the weary soldier that had come in from the north standing behind him. “What can I do for you, Tindrakin?”
“It seems to me that you might be willing to hire a guide into the interior of the lands. My service time for the Prince is up, but I would be returning to my family in Modins with only a meager savings. What you have in mind is very dangerous work, but if you would be willing to pay me accordingly, I could guide you to the trail of the drow and ogres that we fought. I am also no novice to the use of the polearm or the broad sword.”
“What did you have in mind for say two months’ work?” Roland asked.
“Three silver coins?” Tindrakin asked hopefully.
Roland could see the man was bone-weary. Greed could not drive a man to push himself this hard. This man was driven by need.
“If you serve me faithfully for two months, I shall give you ten gold coins. Do we have a deal?”
“I will be your faithful guide and soldier, Roland.”
“You may start by finding a suitable meal for yourself,” Roland handed him five silver coins. “A suitable meal and resupply yourself as you need. Then rest and rest well. We must move out soon, but not act rashly. El’ and I will find a place for the horses. I fear that we must wait for the morning sun on the day after tomorrow before beginning this journey. This rain should let up by then.”
Roland thought that Road Pounder could use the rest, he knew that Tindrakin needed it.
“Very well, sir,” Tindrakin said as he turned. Then something stopped him.
“Sirs?” Tindrakin said as he turned back to Roland and Eldryn. Roland nodded to him and he continued. “I think you should know. Lawrec is a vast land and Prince Ralston has sent many after that sword. There’s a paladin of Silvor that was headed south and west of here to search the marshes near where some great battle happened a long time ago. I think he was meeting some men of his on the road. There’s a scout, Brother Othlynn they call h
im, and he was to search north and east of here in the forests near an old guard tower. I just thought you should know. Our captain was a fine officer but he was no paladin or ranger. We sort of figured the search in the mountains was just an attempt to leave no stone unturned. You may be risking a lot on the chase of a mad goose.”
“Sword or not, there are people in the hands of drow and worse,” Roland said. “Thank you for the advice though.”
After securing the horses, mule, and cart in the stables, Roland, Eldryn, and Kodii found a patch of open ground within the city walls and set up their tent and began a fire. Tindrakin returned and ate a quiet meal with them. Both Roland and Eldryn were surprised at the common man’s appetite. Tindrakin fell to sleep minutes after his meal was finished. Roland and Eldryn stacked their equipment and armor next to them within the tent and stretched out on their bedrolls. After suffering the demons that chased him in his dreams Roland would never lay down for peaceful sleep again without counting it a blessing.
Roland and Eldryn spent the following day gathering any supplies they may have overlooked. Roland had asked Tindrakin to stay with the tent and watch their gear, but mostly he wanted the man to rest as much as he could.
“I assume the drastic change from leaving within an hour to taking an extra day and half has a great deal to do with our ‘guide?’ Eldryn asked, knowing the answer.
“We very well may need his knowledge of these lands,” Roland replied defensively. “And, he is tired, El’. He needs the rest. He clearly has someone to provide for. If I thought he would take the coin as charity I would have offered it. Bolvii put him in our path so we must act with what wisdom we have to accept Bolvii’s blessing.”
“Your skill at finding logic to support the decisions of your heart astonishes even me some days,” El’ retorted.
Roland began a bluster and then relaxed. They had spent too much time and too much blood together for anything other than honesty.
