by T Nisbet
Chp. 45
The sound of the stream accompanied us on our way down the hills towards the plain. I didn’t remember a stream so near the road on our way into the kingdom of the dark elves. I had been too upset with myself to notice much after executing the blood elf. I’d taken more lives since then. Right or wrong, it made me feel hollow inside. It was more than just losing my innocence; it was as if some critical part of who I was had been forcibly removed. Combined with the loss of my friends, it didn’t make sense that I was so much more aware of the little things now. I should be more detached, shouldn’t I? The sound of the stream, the colors of the grasses, the texture of the rocks, the smells, it all seemed so much more vivid, alive.
The sun was well on its way to setting by the time we reached the plains. The grasses on either side of the ancient road swayed and rippled angrily as gusts of wind tore seeds and leaves from their fragile embrace. Coach had been riding slightly ahead of me for several hours. He was no more in tune with his horse’s movements now than he had been when we had begun the journey to Brighton. I had ignored his obvious distress when we’d stopped for water. He’d almost fell when he had dismounted and had barely been able to walk. It wasn’t going to be difficult to lose him when we got to Brighton.
We passed several black clad riders headed the opposite direction as the last rays of the sun touched the grasses and dusk fell over the plain. They didn’t pay us any mind, but it hadn’t stopped my heart from racing.
In the distance I could see a large crowd of wagons clogging the road ahead of us. As we drew closer I could make out the black clothing of mounted riders guarding the heavily loaded wagons. Coach McNally slowed a bit to draw even with me. His face was a mask of pain. The jostling was taking its toll on his old body. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“We are under Lord Memron’s protection,” he grunted painfully. “Don’t do anything to ruin it, Gunn.”
I nodded trying not to show the panic that was coming over me. Coach had a knack for saying and doing things to upset people. There was a very good possibility he would do something to cause a problem no matter whose protection we were under. No matter what Coach did I couldn’t let the dark elves get the Ruby. I looked at the grassy plain on either side trying to come up with a plan. The grasses weren’t tall enough here to hide a rider. I had been riding Carla’s mount for the last several hours and switched back to mine. If it came down to it, I’d head out into the grasses and pray.
Coach went ahead of me again. I looked around in the twilight, wishing darkness would fall more quickly, and then I remembered with shock that I glowed in the dark. Another surging rush of panic slammed into me. I pulled the hood of my cloak lower trying to cover my face better and said a quick prayer, working my breathing exercise.
As we approached the column a couple of the riders guarding the rear of the wagon train turned around, blocking the road in front of us. Coach slowed his horse to a walk. I followed his example, ready to take off into the grasses if things went poorly.
“Halt!” called one of the dark elves as we drew near. Coach stopped ten feet away.
“Who are you to stop envoys of Lord Memron!” Coach McNally growled in his customary acidic tone. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Since when does my Lord Memron send a human and a… you there! Remove your hood!”
Panic swept through me. I had to get away.
“He will do no such thing scum,” Coach shot back. “Move aside or your head will mount Lord Memron’s wall, cur!”
The dark elf grinned in the gathering darkness and began to draw his sword. His partner didn’t look nearly as confident. I adjusted my feet in the stirrups.
“If you require proof dog of Brisna, here it is!” Coach shouted.
Reaching inside his tunic top he withdrew a thin golden miter and held it out before him. Both of the elves gasped and quickly moved their horses to the side bowing in the saddle.
“Forgive us human,” said the leader nervously. “We couldn’t have known.”
“I don’t have time to waste being stopped,” McNally growled. “Escort us past this column, and I may forget your ugly faces.”
The dark elf did a poor job of disguising his hatred of Coach, but kicked his horse into action, whirling it around and riding hard up the side of the road. Coach and I followed. The second dark elf fell in behind us.
We galloped past more than five hundred wagons filled with provisions for war. No one stopped us. That didn’t stop it from being one of the scariest hours I’d had since coming to this world. By the time we passed the last wagon and the column of foot soldiers guarding the front of the caravan, darkness had fully settled over the plain.
The dark elf in front of Coach peeled off to the side and slowed his mount allowing us to continue on past him. Thankfully, Coach didn’t slow his short mount though watching him ride, I wondered how he managed to stay in the saddle. He did worse at the gallop than he did at a canter, if that was possible. Despite his horrible riding skills, I felt immediate relief from the strangling anxiety as we left the wagon train behind us.
“That went well,” came the barest hint of a voice in my mind.
“Didn’t know I was so tired,” I responded as we raced away from the caravan.
“Anxiety and stress are quite fatiguing,” Thallium said. “You’ve had little to no sleep for days. Adrenaline can only take you so far my boy.”
“You say that as if I’ve had a choice old man,” I grumbled. “Doesn’t look like I’m going to get one anytime soon either.”
“Hold onto that dream you had of bringing your parents here, Jake. This world contains beauty untold and if you succeed, maybe one day your dream may come true. Keep hope. Have faith that you will accomplish your goal.”
“A lot of good that will do me with all of my friends dead. But I’ll do my best,” I said as Coach slowed his mount back into a canter. I could tell the little horse was struggling. My horse wasn’t nearly as tired.
“Despair not, young one.” Thallium chided. “The solution will present itself err long.”
I snorted aloud.
“Were you such a optimist when you were alive?
“Indeed, a veritable blue bird of happiness.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Thallium knew everything I’d ever thought or heard, even when he wasn’t able to communicate with me. I wondered what he thought about my reasoning concerning Brianna’s father, the Blood Elves, the vampire council, Coach, and my questions concerning Guldan.
“I found your reasoning to be quite sound, actually,” Thallium answered. “There are a great many players in this game. You are right to conclude that alliances have been formed, but don’t forget that alliances break as well. Each piece of this puzzle has its own motivations. Alliances remain only as long as they serve all the parties involved.
A great man once said; ‘ my enemy’s enemy is my friend,’ but I wouldn’t get friendly with anyone from the Vampire Council if they do, in fact, oppose the Blood Elves now. It wasn’t long ago that they were bonded like twins suckling at their mother’s breast. The Vampire Council most assuredly has designs upon the stone. Possessing it would give them unimaginable power, but which of the members of the council would hold it? They jockey for position and standing constantly. It is just as likely that they have agreed none should have it and seek its destruction.
The dark elves motivation seems pretty straightforward, but I would suggest that not all the members of that race want the fallen angel freed. Many are happy with the power they currently have and are fearful that freeing the demon would undo the balance of power.”
“Memron?” I asked.
“Indeed. He might stand to lose quite a bit if he doesn’t gain the favor of the fallen one, once it is released into this world,” Thallium suggested.
It certainly made sense.
“But won’t he lose everything now that the Demon is trapped and the fairies are back?” I asked. “Bronn said Memron
took their castle for his own, they’ll want it back won’t they?”
“Well done!” Thallium laughed sarcastically. “You’ve been paying attention. I was actually surprised Illithril didn’t go there first. When the siege will begin is anyone’s guess, it may have already begun for all we know. The fairies are anything but conventional, and aren’t inhibited by time the way we are.
“Getting back to alliances, I think it likely that Memron seeks to preserve the status quo by possessing the Cardinal Ruby.”
“Status quo, that’s what Coach said!”
More pieces started falling into place.
“Indeed, it may offer you some insight into your Coach’s motivations as well. He likely serves two Masters as you suspected.”
“That would explain part of the reason for the alliance between Brianna’s father and Memron. Mr. Kline sends Brianna to Memron, along with the stone and me. Holding the stone and the person who can trap the Demon secures Memron’s position as it is,” I thought furiously. “But what does Brianna’s father get out of it? Why does he send his daughter?”
“The prophecies name her ‘the Vampire Queen’. Perhaps Lord Memron plans to marry her and usurp King Zildian’s throne, or perhaps he merely seeks to deliver her to the King in return for more power, either would benefit him.”
“Either way Brianna’s father wins, the bastard,” I said. “He had no intention of keeping her bound to the covenant did he?”
“It doesn’t appear so,” Thallium agreed.
“I can’t give him the stone then,” I said.
“It never really was an option my son,” Thallium said comfortingly.
“Great.”
We passed the crossroads where I had murdered the dark elf. In the distance I could see the lights of Brighton. It took our group six days to get to Brighton on the way here and I only had two days to get the stone out of Ceneria.
“Approximately, could be less,” Thallium chimed in as I was about to start justifying a stop for a hot meal to myself.
“Less?” I shouted in my mind. “What is going on Thallium? You keep changing your estimates.”
“It’s not exactly a science from inside here my boy. There are a multitude of factors at work degrading the strength of the Ruby. The Demon’s strength has grown exponentially due to its consumption of all the essences imprisoned in the stone prior to you trapping it. The return of the fairies added a noticeable increase to the ambient magic of this world, which works against the magic of the stone as well. Predicting the stone’s failure is problematic at best.”
“How long Thallium?” I asked pushing my horse faster.
“Between twenty and twenty-seven hours I would guess conservatively, possibly a bit more,” he said with detached curiousity.
“Then its over… it can’t be done.” I said aloud pushing my horse into a gallop.
“You said that aloud my boy,” Thallium said.
“Slow down, Gunn!” Coach yelled from behind me. “What’s over nimrod? You talking to me?”
“The gates. If we don’t hurry the gates will be closed for the night,” I yelled back at him and pushed my horse even faster.
“Quick thinking,” Thallium laughed.
“How can you laugh? We’re undone… I can’t make that distance in that time,” I screamed in my head. Cold shivers of dread ran up my back as I stood in the stirrups and coaxed my horse into a sprint.
Behind me Coach was yelling something, but he was too far back to make out what he was saying.
“You’ll think of something,” Thallium said confidently. “I’ll leave you to it.”
I could feel his presense leave my mind. It didn’t mean he was gone, but it did offer me some privacy such as it was.
The strangely built walls grew in size as my horse flew down the rode, paced by Carla’s mount just behind me. Guards at the gate stepped out in front of the overhang, their long pikes crossed to bar my way. I slowed my mount and brought it to a sliding stop in front of them. My hood flipped back.
“Hold.. by the son, he’s a blue mage!” one of the guards stammered bowing quickly at the waist. “Does that plainsmen behind you wish you ill?” Several guards emerged from the gatehouse drawing their weapons, readying for a fight.
“No, he’s with me,” I panted. “We were being chased by dark elves. I doubt they have the fortitude to go against our guard.”
“Not if they don’t want to be banished to the farthest border of Ceneria they won’t!” said one of the pikemen proudly.
“I have pressing business inside, may I enter?”
“Of course, my lord,” he said.
The guardsmen quickly moved the pikes out of my way. I pushed my tired mount into a trot. It took me a few seconds to find my seat, but I didn’t suffer too much before falling into rhythm with my horse’s gait. There were a lot of people on the streets, but they got out of my way quickly. I forgot how heavy the nightlife was here. The people wandered around as if they didn’t have a care in the world. They were obviously clueless that Ceneria was on the brink of war. I hurried through the streets as fast as I could, making my way to the Kris’co Blu Smoke Inn. The revelers were out in force on the street the inn was located on, and I was forced to walk my mounts.
I dismounted in front of the Inn and somehow managed to stay on my feet. I didn’t realize how tired I was or how sore. A young groomsmen appeared from the Inn pushing his way gently through the crowd.
“Staying with us sir?” he said. He couldn’t have been any older than me, probably close to the same age. I envied him his innocent life.
“Please just brush them down and give them some oats. I’m going to have a bite to eat, then I need to be off again,” I said.
“As you wish sir,” said the groom leading the sweaty horses away.
I started to move towards the doorway when Coach knocked past a couple of partygoers who cursed him thoroughly.
“Hold boy!” he shouted at the groom. The young man stopped and looked at Coach with distaste for a split second before masking his face neutral.
“Can I help you sir?” he asked.
“Take this miserable, God forsaken creature too,” Coach growled gingerly lifting his leg over the saddle.
The groom tried to hide a smile.
“Long journey sir?” he asked.
I watched Coach struggle to get off his horse enjoying every moment.
“What’s it to you, idiot,” Coach cursed. “Don’t stand there ogling me like a newborn, help me down!”
The groom rolled his eyes and moved slowly over to offer Coach McNally assistance. I wouldn’t have hurried either.
“I’ll be inside Coach… when you can walk,” I said pleasantly as I turned and entered the Inn. I could hear Coach cursing as I closed the door behind me. The common room was packed with people laughing, talking and enjoying themselves. The aroma of spiced, roasted meat mixed with the rich pipe tobacco wafting about the room. The atmosphere was uplifting, and I needed that badly. As I started through the crowd, the Innkeeper’s large arm encircled my shoulder pulling me close to his side.
“Welcome back lad!” he said joyously. “Where is your beautiful bride?”
“She’s… at our home,” I lied.
The innkeeper slapped me on the back.
“Need of the break already? Never mind you that, lad. How can Granusshi help you?”
“A meal if you please… I’m starved.”
The innkeeper roared with laughter and pulled me through the crowd to a vacant table with a booth.
“Your bride, she hasn’t learned the cook yet eh? Send her over anytime; my wife, she love to teach the kitchen skills. She like that you know, most helpful woman in the world. I bring you the roast and my dumplings I think, yes? Maybe some ale to wash it down, no?”
I did my best to put a smile on my face and agreed to send her over. I sat down in the padded, red leather booth so I could look out at the room, as the Innkeeper pushed back through the
crowd. I adjusted my scabbard and then felt the bump in my pocket reassuring myself the ruby was still there. I looked around at the crowd: the old and young, dressed in robes of rich silk, and plain leather. They laughed and enjoyed each other’s company; they had no idea that the stone in my pocket was going to bring about the ruin of the world in a day or less. Much like I had envied the innocent groom who had taken Carla’s horse, and mine, I wished I were one of them.
The red-faced Innkeeper pushed back through the crowd and set a plate filled with enough food for two people on thick dark table.
“That shoulda hold you over, no?” he said winking, and then moved back through the crowd.
I’d never had service that quick back home, not by a long shot. I started in on the meal, glancing up every so often to look for Coach McNally. The roast was so tender, I didn’t even need my knife to cut it. It melted in my mouth with a rich smoked flavor that was amazing. The dumplings were fluffy and covered with a creamy pesto sauce that complimented the roast perfectly. Food this delicious back home would have made the innkeeper tremendously wealthy.
A small commotion drew my attention, and I looked up to see Coach stagger painfully through the crowd, pushing people aside with curses and ill-tempered threats. I smiled up at him and popped a dumpling in my mouth. If it was to be my last meal, I intended to enjoy it.
He was livid, his face redder than I’d ever seen it. I was reminded briefly of cartoon characters whose faces turned red, and then blew steam out of their ears. A little over a week ago that look would have sent me running for cover. A lot had happened in a week.
Rather than sitting down in one of the chairs, he sat down next to me in the booth, far too close for comfort. I did my best to ignore him.
“I can see this isn’t going to work as planned,” Coach growled, leaning in so close to me I could feel heat of his breath against my ear. Something sharp pressed up against my ribs and I grunted, swallowing the mouthful of food too quickly. Sputtering and coughing, I looked down and saw Coach’s rusty K-Bar knife pressing against the leather tunic protecting my ribcage as I tried not to choke.
“I would just kill you now, Gunn,” Coach snarled in my ear. “But someone might see, and I can’t leave this city until I have Lady Brianna. So just give me the Cardinal Ruby, and I’ll let you crawl away.”
I stopped choking and caught my breath as several moves to disarm my former football coach flashed unbidden through my mind. It would be a close thing, but I was fairly certain I could do it. He hadn’t believed me when I’d told him that Ivy had the stone. Damn! There was no use denying it then, besides with the stone’s power fading so quickly it wasn’t going to do him much good either. The least I could do was make him admit his betrayal.
“Won’t Memron be unhappy with you if you don’t deliver me as well?” I asked turning slightly. “That was part of the deal, wasn’t it?”
Coach pressed the knife harder and it began to slice through the leather.
“You smug son of a bitch!” he growled. “You think you know something? You know nothing.”
I had to smile at that.
“What I don’t get is why your Master would have you give me the sword, and Toby the war hammer if he just planned on handing us over to Lord Memron with his daughter,” I said, trying to breathe softly to avoid sticking myself on Coach’s rusty blade.
“My old Master believed you would succeed trapping the fallen angel regardless of his promises to Lord Memron. He…”
“Old?” I said interrupting. “So you made a new deal with Memron?”
“A contingency… I knew you’d fail,” he snickered.
“Will you be laughing still when you show up at Memron’s castle without me?”
“Lord Memron will be happy enough with the stone. He’ll marry Lady Brianna, fulfilling her destiny, and make me an immortal, fulfilling mine. I’ll convince him that since all your pathetic friends are dead or imprisoned, you’ve run off to cower under a rock somewhere. He’ll become King, and I’ll have a powerful ally.”
“You’re insane,” I said shaking my head.
“I could just as easily tell him I killed you in this bar,” he growled. “Now give me the stone!”
I felt the cold metal tip of the K-Bar press into my flesh and shook my head.
“I can’t,” I said, wincing as the rusty knife cut me. “I have to get it out of this world, or the demon will be freed.”
“What!” Coach screamed in my ear. “You said…”
“I lied,” I said, gasping as the knife slid in slightly.
“You…” Coach sputtered, pushing the knife in a little more.
“Change your plans much?”
“Young Master!” said a familiar voice. I looked up in time to see a roguishly dressed, powerfully built, man with a patch over one eye sit down in a chair near Coach’s side of the table. It took me a second to remember.
Pierre grinned lopsided at me and patted his shoulder.
“It be well healed. The surgeon, your friend here, took me to did wonders,” he said accenting the word ‘friend.’ “So I was wondering why a ‘friend’ would be sitting next to you holding a knife against your ribs?”
I felt the pressure of the knife ease and looked down. The tip of a shiny blade extended from under the table and sat against the middle of Coach’s stomach. Pierre winked at me and gestured for me to move with a nod of his head.
I got up and put a hand to my side, it came back bloody. I wiped it on my cloak and sat down opposite Coach. I could hardly believe the turn of events. I had almost been banished from Ceneria because of the rogue who had just saved me. Not just me, my whole group would have been banished. I remembered the agony on the faces of the gypsies when their group had been banished. I’d almost had to go through that because of…
“Put it on the table, old man,” Pierre said with deadly intent. “Slowly.”
“You!” Coach said vehemently. He was shaking, he was so furious, but he did as the brigand said.
“I don’t count us as even, young master, or should I say ‘Champion of Lockewood’?” Pierre asked.
I stood up again, heart pounding. Could it be that easy?
“Are you well?” Pierre said, concerned as he slid Coach’s K-Bar to the other end of the table.
Would they understand? I had to chance it, there was no other way! I looked around the crowded bar. They had to understand. They had to be forced to act quickly, and know what to do. I turned to Pierre as the idea blossomed in my mind.
“I need a huge favor Pierre. I know this is going to sound hard to believe, but fate of this world hangs in the balance.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Cardinal ruby. It pulsed in my hand sending reflected light showering about the room. Gasps of astonishment rose around me as the crowd nearest to me noticed the amazing ruby.
“Holy God!” Pierre breathed, staring at the stone.
“Fight me Pierre, and don’t hold back. We need to be banished!” I said, panting… it had to work.
“What?”
“Fight me. I promise to make it up to you if this works Pierre. At the very least I’ll make sure the banishment on you is lifted. I can’t really explain it… just fight me,” I said drawing Gwensorloth.
I heard the crowd backing away.
“What is going on here son?” said the Innkeeper from behind me.
“Trust me good Innkeep… move everyone back!” I shouted.
Pierre looked at me, then at Coach bringing his sword out from under the table. The tip of his blade rose up Coach’s torso until it was even with his face, then he stood up.
“I owe you my life young master. Are you committed to this? The banishment will be painful beyond bearing,” he said, sighing loudly.
“Don’t do this!” cried the Innkeep. “She’ll learn to cook. I promise!”
“I am. Give me your best Pierre. Don’t hold back. It must be real.”
“As you wish,” Pierre said and
his blade flashed through the air towards my neck. I deflected it easily and kicked a chair up over the table as a distraction. Coach wasn’t able to duck fast enough and it crashed into him knocking him out cold.
Pierre laughed.
“Well done!” he cried and attacked me with reckless abandon. I slipped into Guldan’s defense and parried the lightning quick attack. I heard the innkeeper shouting frantically for everyone to give us room. I pressed Pierre a bit holding the ruby up high with my left hand so it could be seen.
“Come on, come on!” I breathed, defending myself using a variant of the Quail Crossing, which allowed me to keep my hand raised. Pierre roared and came at me with a furious assault, ending in an amazingly beautiful spinning back kick. I moved to the side and swept his pivot foot out from under him. He crashed to the floor and rolled out of the way of my downward slash, which would have taking off his head.
Why wasn’t it working?
“Time,” came a thought in the back of my mind.
I jumped over a slicing backhand that would have taken off my foot and danced backward. Pierre flipped onto his feet and came forward, his blade singing through the air. We danced back and forth in the confined space. I could tell that his shoulder wasn’t one hundred percent because he began to slow having a more difficult time defending my attacks. I cut his forearm pulling back Gwensorloth so it wouldn’t bite very deep. Blood seeped into the sleeve of his white shirt.
This couldn’t go on much longer, he was tiring too quickly. I stepped back and raised my arms pleading for a moment. Then attacked again scoring again on his thigh. Pierre grimaced at the pain and came forward putting the last of his strength into his attack.
His blade whirled strangely before me, I couldn’t focus for some reason. I felt dizzy and couldn’t stop his sword from piercing my right shoulder. I staggering backwards as pain blossomed where he’d hit me. The room tilted suddenly and I fell to my knees. Through my hazy vision I saw the Pierre had also fallen to the floor.
The real pain was sudden and so intense it stopped my breath. Somehow I managed to put my left hand in my pocket even as Gwensorloth toppled nervelessly from my right. I couldn’t scream. My eyes burned, my whole body filled with such incredible agony I couldn’t think. The pain became a burning white-hot light that seared through to the center of my being. There was nothing but agony, and then there was nothing.
