by Mark Albany
The idea had always been to keep ourselves from being seen. The elves were drawing attention away from us, which was good, but we still needed food and supplies. The stuff that had been given to us by the fishermen as a thank you for saving their village from attack would only get us so far.
Luckily, we were close enough to a handful of villages that Jule could visit and collect something for us should we run out.
I pushed myself up from where I had been laying with Kalna. I could feel the cold, obviously, but it didn’t affect me as much as it did the others, except for Eira, of course. One of the benefits of being whatever she was: the cold didn’t touch her. And from what I’d seen on Kalames, the heat didn’t bother her much either.
The fire had almost died down. Kalna, Leena, and Jule were huddled up under the blankets we’d brought. I stood as quietly as I could, adding a couple of logs to the fire and stoking it, prompting a bit of a flame to flare up. Then I slipped outside.
The sun was starting to rise. While a foreign land wasn’t going to be any kind of replacement for my hill overlooking the castle back in Radon, it would have to do for now. A light fog covered most of the forest around us. The trees were still unbelievably massive, leading me to think that there just might be some sort of magical power infused in this land which made them grow that big.
I hadn’t seen much in the way of wild animals around, but I could only imagine that they would be just as huge. I sat down on a felled log from a considerably smaller tree, looking over the scene in front of me.
As the sun rose over the mountains in the east, it lit up the mist like it was a cloud on the ground. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment and taking in the peace of my surroundings. My mind reached out, drawing the power from the Darkness and touching on the mist. I felt the heat from the sun making it rise slowly. I pushed on my powers, absorbing the chill in the air and forcing the mist to dissipate faster.
When I opened my eyes, a much less peaceful scene greeted me. Almost fifty men stood before me, clearly surprised at the sudden disappearance of the fog they’d been using to cover their approach. They all wore the black Trelan armor. At the far back of the group, one soldier rode on horseback. I assumed he was the leader.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” I called, loud enough to hopefully wake the sleepers still inside the hut. “A beautiful day, is it not?”
The soldiers looked around, not sure what to do. Their leader clearly hadn’t been in command for long, as it took him a few seconds to realize that his men were actually considering retreating from a single man. Considering that there were close to fifty of them, I could only imagine the kind of embarrassment that would result from such an action.
He quickly kicked his horse into a gallop, reaching the front of the line and coming to a stop about fifteen paces from where I was still sitting.
“You are to come with us,” the man declared loudly, like he was trying to reinfuse some courage in his men. “By order of the God-King, you will come. If you resist, you will be killed. Surrender, and you may live.”
“Oh, well, let me just go ahead and surrender then,” I shot back with a sarcastic smirk. “Honestly, if you want a man to surrender without a fight, you should at least imply that surviving isn’t something that is optional.”
“Why would I play games with you?” the man asked, tilting his head. “You are severely outnumbered. Your survival was not commanded by the God-King, only that your body be brought to his son.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and watched the man. He didn’t look much older than twenty. He also didn’t look like he was used to being in charge. He was probably the son of someone rich and powerful who wanted his child to be in a position of command, but without too much danger.
Which told me his commanders hadn’t been fully informed of the situation they were facing.
I heard the sound of the women waking up and arming themselves. There weren’t any other entrances or exits into the hut, which meant I had to hope they didn’t charge out and make everything worse, although I’d like to think they would still be able to come to my aid should things go badly.
“Well, they had to make it a fair fight.” I stood, and pulled my sword from its sheath. Smoke started to rise from the pitch-black blade. I looked up at the man on the horse and smiled.
He seemed unnerved by my calm, as well as by the blade showing magical properties. He pulled his sword out. It was a long cavalry saber, but he had no intention of using it to fight. Instead, he raised it, and the dozen or so Trelans with bows quickly raised them, arrows nocked and ready.
“Fire!” he cried, and they let fly. Most were good shots. More than half looked like they would hit the target.
Me.
I raised my sword instinctively, watching the arrows cutting through the air toward me like time had slowed. I inhaled to gather my power as Kalna and Eira had taught me, focused on what I wanted to happen, then exhaled, feeling the Darkness seeping out of my body and into the air around me. My power surged, coursing through my veins as the chill I’d brought into myself from the mist was suddenly surrounding me. The arrows sank into it and stuck for a second before dropping uselessly to the ground.
I mentally collected the thick, chilled air around me, and with a powerful swing of my sword to focus both my intent and aim, I sent a blast of air toward the archers. The force was strong enough to knock them to the ground. I narrowed the blast into a blade as sharp as my sword and quickly reversed the strike, once again using a corresponding physical gesture to help me direct my power.
For a moment, it seemed like nothing had happened. Slowly, the sound of wood groaning, cracking, and snapping filled the previously quiet morning air, and one of the immense trees started falling. The archers and other men tried to scramble out of the way, but it was too late. Groaning, cracking and snapping noises reverberated through their surroundings so that they scrambled in one direction one moment, another the next, unable to determine which tree would fall, or where. The archers, along with a handful of others, were crushed under the weight in a deafening crash.
It took a moment before everything was quiet again, but when it was, it was almost as deafening as the sound of the tree collapsing.
I didn’t know we could do that.
“That’s because you seem intent on using only brute force and violence to get what you want,” I muttered under my breath. “And then you wonder why you drive all your hosts mad or into isolation.”
Point taken.
“One of the men who survived your attack on the fishing village told me there was a Dark One fighting alongside our enemies,” the man on the horse said, struggling to keep the beast from bolting. “I didn’t believe him until now.”
“There were no Trelan survivors.” I looked up at him as I stated that. I knew I was right about that. Which, annoyingly, told me that it was one of the villagers who’d let the word out about what had happened.
The foursome still inside the hut behind me took my words as their cue to come out. I turned enough to see them while still keeping an eye on the Trelans, and smiled when I saw them. Leena carried her bow. Kalna had warpaint on her face and two daggers in her hands, while Jule had a walking staff and a sword she’d recovered from the dead at the fishing village.
Eira was the only one without weapons, but I could see faint twists in the air around her hands, along with something dark seeping into them. The dark tinge showed me that globes were starting to form. The others didn’t seem to notice anything, making me wonder if I was the only one who could see them.
“What’s the problem, Braks?” Leena asked, looking calm as she raised her bow and aimed at the man on horseback.
“Oh, the usual.” I turned back and addressed the Trelans, of which just over thirty remained. “You just saw what one man can do without even touching you. Do you really want to find out how much power the five of us have?”
My mood and slowly-building bloodlust started to seep out in
to the atmosphere, influencing the minds and the bodies of the remaining Trelans. Cold sweat dripped from their brows as images of their comrades being crushed under the terrible weight of the tree flashed through their minds. I didn’t know if that was indeed what they were thinking, but it was what I wanted them to be picturing.
It only took a few seconds before the majority of the group started inching backward. Even the commander looked like he was having a hard time picturing anything but the blade in my hands slashing through his throat, but I saw conflicting emotions on his face. He was probably thinking of the shame he would be subjected to if this was how he failed, but he also seemed worried he would be killed too.
“Stand your ground, you miserable, cowardly maggots!” he called, waving his sword around wildly. “I’ll have you all horsewhipped and dragged through the snow of the mountain passes—” His speech was cut short as an arrow buried itself in his throat. He coughed, spraying blood across the ground as he swayed once in the saddle and finally toppled to the ground.
Leena quickly drew another arrow from her quiver and nocked it to her bowstring. I didn’t think it would be needed, though.
“That was rude,” I mock-chided with a small smile.
“I just woke up,” she replied with a somewhat malicious grin. “No need to start the day with some asshole yelling.”
I scanned the faces of the rest of the men, whose will to fight was waning by the second.
“Leave now,” I ordered in a booming voice. “And remember what you have seen here today.”
What? No. Kill them all. You’re just letting them go? What’s the matter with you?
I gritted my teeth, watching the men start to run off into the woods. It didn’t look like they were going anywhere in any kind of coordinated fashion. They probably didn’t want to go back to their commanders, who would almost certainly punish them for retreating and failing their mission.
The soldiers would run into the wind and spread the word about me. It wasn’t exactly what my original plan had been, but if we didn’t have a direct way to the God-King until the winter was past, rumors of my power would have to do for now.
I wasn’t going to be running scared. A storm was coming, and I wasn’t the one who would be cowering in fear of it.
I tried to slip my sword back in its sheath, but it took a few tries since my hands were shaking. I felt a desperate need to hunt down those fleeing Trelans and kill them all. There was no reason to believe that they would live peaceful lives after this. Maybe they wouldn’t fight for the Trelans, but become deserters. They would have nothing left to lose and would be unleashing their cruelty on defenseless villages and towns. Could I really let that happen?
“Are you all right, Braks?” Jule asked, coming closer.
My hands were still shaking. “Yeah, it’s just the adrenaline wearing off.”
Sure, just the adrenaline.
“Shut up,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “I wasn’t talking to you. We need to keep moving. No telling if those men will return with more troops. If they do, they’ll be harder to scare off next time.”
The women agreed. We collected our stuff quickly. The Trelan commander’s horse was grazing nearby, seemingly calm now that the action was over with. When I looked a little closer, I realized the reins had slipped over its head when it started grazing, which probably made it think it had been ground-tied.
“He could carry some of the packs,” I suggested. Leena looked back, tilting her head.
“It would be wasteful to just leave him here,” she agreed.
Jule tilted her head, taking an instinctive step back as Leena took hold of the reins and brought the beast closer. I got the feeling she wasn’t overly fond of horses.
Kalna felt much differently, patting the beast’s neck lightly as Leena loaded our packs on its saddle.
“What are we going to name him?” the elf asked.
“Toad,” I replied.
“Do you call all your horses Toad?” Kalna asked.
“Yes.” I forced a grin, my hands clenched to keep them from shaking any more.
You can’t hold me back forever, Braks. You can barely hold me in check now.
I didn’t reply, not verbally anyway. I couldn’t help feeling that talking to it openly was somehow accepting its presence, allowing it more room to work within my mind. I shook my head, taking in a shaky breath.
All the ladies except Jule could feel my struggle. They weren’t talking about it, but they knew. And they were wondering just how much help they were in keeping the Darkness at bay.
I hadn’t killed those men. I could have torn into them, but I hadn’t. That was how much help they were. I communicated the sentiment through our connection. They were the only links to sanity that I had left.
I could see Leena smile as we started off. Kalna squeezed my shoulder gently.
Chapter 23
The word spread a lot faster than I had anticipated. By the time we reached the next village, everyone was talking about how the Trelan forces were already starting to walk in fear of a Dark One who had arrived with an army of elves.
The stories varied, depending on who was relating the tale. The Dark One was a giant with a stone hand that he used to crush men’s skulls. He was a creature of the dark with fire for eyes. The elves were in the thousands, or no, only a handful had arrived, but they used magic to summon beasts from the depths of the earth to fight for them.
The stories varied so much that there was very little to connect them to our little group. Of course, anyone who saw Kalna and Eira along the way had quickly invited us into their villages. The people were very much against the Trelans, so we were treated as guests of honor, with gifts of food and clothes being shared.
We couldn’t rely on being treated similarly at every village though, especially since our travels were taking us deep into enemy territory. So, it was agreed that Kalna, with her elfin features, and Eira, with her purple hair, pale skin, and white eyes, would attract too much attention. For that matter, Leena and I couldn’t speak the language, and foreigners would attract too much notice as well. As such, Jule was the one entrusted with entering villages to buy supplies with the money we’d looted from the Trelans that we killed along the way.
While the decision was not a popular one, it wasn’t like we had much choice.
Stories of how the Neurian forces, bolstered by elves, were starting to push the Trelans back were spreading too, as well as the news that the Trelans were sending troops to help contain the Neurians’ advance. That, at least, lifted our spirits as we made our way through the chilling winter.
We had been traveling for a couple of weeks by the time we came into view of the mountain ranges which were the natural barrier that protected the Trelan homeland.
“There is only one pass,” Jule told us as we built a camp to spend the night. “It leads between the two mountain ranges. Deep inside, you will find the city of Telra, built into a mountain. They use it for defense as well as a base for digging deep into the mountain for the riches contained within.”
“How do they feed an entire city without farmlands?” Leena asked, ever the pragmatist.
“Three hundred years ago, Telra was little more than a mining camp aligned with a king who abused the people living there with oppressive taxes in exchange for food,” Jule informed us before biting into a piece of bread. “It is said that the God-King was one of the workers, and he found one of the powers buried within the mountain. He used it to free the people and eventually take the kingdom for himself. Instead of situating himself in the capital of the deposed king, he built a magnificent city from the mountain itself and instead of the miners being taxed, it was the farmers who had to send food to their new king.”
“Interesting history,” I said. “More interesting is the fact that they rely on outside support to feed their city. To starve them out, you wouldn’t even need to lay siege to i
t. You could just cut off the supplies from outside. Why hasn’t anyone done that yet?”
“Any who try are immediately met with overwhelming resistance, led by the Firstborn and their Viziers. The last army to attempt it was impaled on stakes and left to freeze in front of that castle over there.” Jule pointed to a spot on the mountain. During the day, it had been difficult to see anything other than rock and snow, but at night, all the fires and torches were lit, making it plainly visible. “The forest of fools, they called it.”
“How do you know about all this?”
“It was my job as a historian to document and memorize all that had happened during the wars.” She spoke softly. “I have a fantastic memory, which allows me to recall everything that was written on the topic, and many other details besides. I’ve never been much of a fighter, though, so there has to be something that I can do to help.”
“We have fighters aplenty.” Kalna lightly brushed her fingers over the woman’s hair. “Well, we have enough, anyway. What we need is someone who knows the land and the history. We were very lucky to find you.”
Jule blushed and smiled, leaning into the elf’s touch. “Thank you.”
Seeing them together lit a warm feeling inside me. It wasn’t sexual, but more like affection. I had grown to like Jule over the past couple of weeks, and she felt like one of us now.
“Who lives in that castle?” I asked, once the moment had passed.
“Why do you ask?” Jule replied, distracted by Kalna.
“Anyone who holds that castle has the fortification to control the rest of the countryside out there.” I pointed to the open fields that were pockmarked but clearly farmland.
“Nobody would be stupid enough to try,” Jule said softly. “That’s where the God-King has his Viziers trained. Men and women of magical talent are selected from across the lands at a young age to be warped and turned into his minions. Nobody knows how it’s done, but considering the cruelty of those that emerge, I can’t imagine it’s a pleasant place.”
