The Great Hearts II: A Game of Gods

by David Oliver

  “And do you know where one is?”

  “Not yet,” she replied. “But the Emperor has his ways. I’ll have a talk with him and decide what our next steps should be.” She shook her head and punched me in the shoulder. “But that is for next time. Get your arse in gear, it’s time for training.”

  Part III

  Revelations

  Chapter 28

  Journey

  I didn’t see Anatha for two weeks after that conversation. She sent a message for me to practice taking strength from Seya and that I would hear from her in the near future and that was it.

  Learning how to borrow energy from Seya was a strange process. It felt like I was stealing from her, even though she was adamant that it did not hurt and that her energy would replenish much more quickly than mine. Through much cajoling I finally managed to learn how to draw energy along our bond to fill myself with power. It was slow going and a long way from the rapid transfer that Anatha had said was possible, but it was very much a start. Boosting my strength made me feel like I could crush the world beneath my fingers and it was only Seya’s sarcastic commentary that kept my ego from getting too inflated.

  Speed was a strange one too. I was already fast thanks to Seya’s bond but enhanced speed had me feeling like I was jogging through the forest faster than my previous sprint. The main downside was that it didn’t improve my reaction time, meaning that I could seriously hurt myself if I went faster than my brain could handle. This was one of the reasons that Anatha and Borza’s bond was so effective.

  Two weeks after Anatha left I stood in Kane’s office at his request. On his desk was a thick parchment letter complete with the gilded seal of the Emperor. He regarded me with curious eyes.

  “What do you think this is Calidan?” he asked, pointing at the letter.

  “Looks like a letter from the Emperor sir,” I replied, feigning nonchalance.

  “And do you know what this letter contains?”

  “No sir,” I said truthfully, with a shake of my head.

  Kane picked up the letter, lowered some reading glasses onto his nose and began to read. “Imperator Kane, I seek a pair of competent fourth years to complete a negotiation with the Sunfa clan. They have something that I desire but will only deal in person. Relations are somewhat strained at the moment as the Sunfa are an obtuse and difficult tribe to work with, however I imagine that this will form the perfect opportunity for a learning session for a pair of competent Imps. I envisage this task will require someone with great will, great strength and most importantly a great heart to achieve success.

  Find them, send them on horseback to the Anafor ferry. My contact will meet them there in three days.”

  He finished reading out the letter and took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “As you know we do send out our higher years for training, however it is usually with cordial relations in order to improve your knowledge of their home and learn certain etiquette. The Sunfa are a small clan that live in the Ellendar swamps of Mustovar. They tend not to trade with outsiders, preferring to be self-sufficient. As such relatively little is known of them. The Emperor obviously knows more than he is letting on in this letter and I can only presume from its contents that the mission’s chance of success will be much higher if you and Seya go. Are you okay with this?”

  I could barely contain my excitement. “Of course Instructor!” I said eagerly. “My thanks for the opportunity.”

  “Oh I doubt it is something that I have done that has provided you with this trip,” Kane replied drily. “Out of your dorm who would you like with you?”

  “Cassius,” I said instantly. It needed no thought.

  “I thought you might say that,” Kane said. “You’ll find him outside. Adronicus will make sure you’re kitted out. You have two hours and then I want you out the door. Follow the highroad south following signs for the Anafor ferry. You’ll be there in two days if you travel fast. The ferry will take you to Port Cambal and from there it is a four-day ride into Mustovar. The swamps are roughly a day’s ride from where you will enter the country. Adronicus will provide you with a map, food, money and clothing. Take whatever weapons suit you both best.”

  He gave me an appraising look. “Whilst we are not directly sending you into combat this time Calidan do not mistake this for anything other than a real mission. I do not know who your contact will be at the ferry but they will have other information. Whatever the mission is I am sure that between you, Cassius and Seya you will be able to handle it. Just remember your training, plan your escape and leave violence as a last resort.”

  He stood and offered me his hand. “Best of luck Calidan, go in the Emperor’s name.”

  Outside I found Cassius, his gaze uncertain. He brightened when he saw me and excitement lit his features when I explained the task ahead of us. He practically bounced as we headed back to the dorm to tell the others. Rikol was the only one who wasn’t envious. I’m not even sure if he heard what we were doing or where we were going as he was that engrossed in whatever seraph project he was working on. We quickly gathered a few choice belongings, Cassius making sure to take Asp from the side of his bed, and I left to find Adronicus, giving Cassius some time to say a proper goodbye to Ellie.

  Arriving at the weapon master’s building I found him sharpening a cavalry sabre. The wider tip and heavier weight made for devastating cuts that could power through weak blocks put up by opponents.

  He looked up as I walked in and gave me a sharp smile. “Welcome Calidan,” he said, voice gruff. “I took the liberty of preparing this for you. Your strength should allow you to wield it as easily as any other weapon and I know that you prefer sabres.” He proffered the blade hilt first.

  I took the weapon and inspected it, testing the edge with my thumb. He had done a fine job, the blade drawing a thin line of blood where it pressed lightly against my skin.

  “This will do nicely Adronicus, thank you,” I replied. He grunted in response and stood, grabbing two packs.

  “For you and Cassius,” he said, passing them over. “Food and supplies for three weeks if you ration it carefully.” He handed over a scabbard and I carefully slid the oversized cavalry sabre into it before attaching it to my waist. Adronicus then passed over a black leather jacket, its fabric heavy in my arms.

  “Not quite an Imperator jacket,” he murmured as he passed it over. “But it will protect you from minor slashes. Not that I would make a habit of letting anyone hit you though.”

  I snorted and slipped into the jacket, feeling it hang comfortably across my shoulders before spilling down to stop just around my ankles. The leather was thick and comfortable, the inside of the jacket filled with deep pockets that could hide a wide array of tools and weaponry. Fully fledged Imperators had full length jackets that had extra linings of some clever material sewn into the inside that offered decent protection against most cuts and even some protection against thrusts. It wouldn’t dissipate the power behind the blows, still resulting in broken limbs and ribs, but it could turn a mortal blow into something more manageable. This leather jacket was a pale comparison to those exquisite pieces of workmanship, but still provided more protection than my normal Academy clothes would offer. Furthermore it was more of a hallmark of status. Imperators were rarely seen within the Empire and usually only by people that they were hunting, but stories abounded of those who travelled with their black coats. Those stories may have even travelled as far as the Sunfa clan, potentially providing me with some element of value in their eyes.

  Adronicus eyed me with a sceptical eye before nodding begrudgingly. “Fits you well,” he said gruffly. “Wear it with pride and remember to take good care of it. The better you treat her the better she will treat you. Good rule for life, that.”

  The door opened behind us and Cassius slipped inside. Asp was clasped in a long sheath by his side, and a small pack of belongings hung over his shoulder. Adronicus grunted at him and threw the second jacket which Cassius caught deftly,
grimacing slightly at the weight. Like mine it was perfectly tailored, close fitting but allowing for easy mobility. Whoever the Imperator Academy had tailoring their clothes was they had an incredible eye - I couldn’t remember having been measured for clothing during my time here and yet this felt like it had been personally tailored.

  “You’re taking Asp I see,” Adronicus rumbled, flicking his head towards Cassius’s sword. “A good choice. Though I recommend keeping a sword of that quality hidden until the time comes that you need to draw it.”

  “You got it boss,” Cassius replied, a broad smile on his face. His relationship with the weapon master was much more friendly than everyone else, his skill with swords and attitude to training having long endeared him to the huge man. He was one of the few people who could be so flippant and jovial with the giant.

  Adronicus handed us each a harness to go under the leather coat. Made of tough yet thin leather it hosted a number of sheathes for the small armoury of blades that he revealed.

  “One can never have enough knives,” he said solemnly as he handed out the arsenal. “I recommend you keep these harnesses on when travelling. You all know how effective knives can be in combat, but I can tell you from experience that you can be much better received when entering new environments such as an inn if you do not have a sword at your side. Whether you take that risk or not however is up to you.” He eyed the sheathed blade at Cassius’s side and spoke again, “Indeed I wouldn’t let something that has the value of Asp out of your sight. It would be all too easy for a light-fingered person to steal when packed on your saddle.”

  He gave us a moment to affix the harness over our attire, the bulges for knives hidden by the flowing jackets. With a critical eye he double checked our packs and our blades and then with a grave nod he beckoned us to follow him. Despite the weight of the packs that we bore our steps were light, keen to exit and explore. I couldn’t help but compare myself to Anatha, even with the relative freedoms that the Imps had within the walls of the Academy here I was joyous at the thought of heading out into the unknown. What would it be like, I wondered, to stay within that citadel, only able to leave when ordered?

  Before long we arrived at the main gate. Grazing nearby were two horses, both already saddled. Adronicus helped secure our packs, his movements swift and practiced, and then stepped out of the way as we jumped up.

  “You have a map, a compass, money, food and a location,” he said as he unbarred the gate. “That’s everything an Imperator needs. Stay safe and watch each other’s backs, particularly when in towns and cities. I know that you both know the wild but the depths of any town can harbour more wildness and danger than you might expect.” A glimmer entered his eye as he spoke and he gave a sly grin. “That goes triple for Port Cambal. One wrong turn there and you’ll awaken more vipers than you can shake a stick at.” He winked. “Lucky for you, your sticks have sharp edges. Try not to get into trouble but defend yourselves accordingly if you do. No one impedes an Imperator.” His steely eyes found ours again. “No one.”

  With that he led our horses out the main gate, handed over the reins and with a grunt and a nod he walked back inside, a casual wave of his hand his final parting message. As the gate boomed shut behind us Cassius and I shared a look and kicked our horses into a trot, our smiles broad. The difference between our past missions and this felt like night and day. This wasn’t a test or a trial of survival, nor was it a mission complete with chaperones. This was the Academy starting to trust us as individuals. The first taste of how life would be as actual Imperators. And it felt good.

  Seya followed at a discreet distance, shadowing us but not so close as to spook the horses. I had relayed our mission and she had jumped at the chance to explore, though as to how we were to get her across on the ferry I didn’t know - I could only hope that our contact would have a plan.

  We descended into Anderal, the capital city of the Empire with its concentric road system that lived under the shadow of the citadel that was the Emperor’s home. Despite its relative closeness to the Academy it wasn’t a city that either Cassius or myself knew particularly well. Our reasons for going into the city were few and whilst it wasn’t banned for higher year Imps to head into the city in their spare time it was a fair walk without a carriage or horse, which made visits either a mad rush or just not worth the effort.

  To say the city was huge would be an understatement. To a bird flying overhead it would probably look something like an eye; a large central park the pupil and row after row of concentric roads the iris and bloodshot veins. Each primary ring was a large thoroughfare, allowing horses, carts and the masses of humanity easy access to the rest of the city. Four primary roads extended out from the innermost circle in compass point directions, effectively subdividing the city into sectors. Allegedly it made the city extremely simple to navigate, but at five times the size of Forgoth its sheer size made me unable to grasp its simplicity.

  We traversed the city without problem and in good time. The roadways were full to brimming with traffic and yet it flowed at a reasonable pace. We garnered a few looks here and there, the outfits marking us as either terrible dressers or Imperator agents, but for the most part were studiously ignored in that way that only city folk can.

  Unlike Forgoth where traffic outside the city was light with generally just farmers and the odd merchant leaving the gates, the flow of humanity barely dimmed as we left through the southern gate of Anderal. The Imperial highroad was the primary method for the transportation of goods throughout the Andurran empire and so instead of citizens going around their everyday business we were instead joined by cart after cart of goods. The benefit of this was that the Imperial highroad was one of the safest roads within the empire and potentially within the world. Aside from patrols that regularly ran up and down the main arterial routes outside of each major city the majority of merchants hired mercenaries, ex-soldiers and guards to protect their investments. It was often joked that if the empire was invaded the second line of defence would be the highroad due to the amount of military might that ran up and down it each day.

  Five copper pieces gave us a private room within a way-station, some forty miles south of the capital. The beds were bare frames but we were comfortable enough with our jackets and a makeshift pillow of our packs. The next day we rose with the sun and pushed hard, reaching the Anafor ferry in the late afternoon. Anafor itself was a small fortified town. It guarded the mouth of the Arunavae river, tributaries of which stretched for nearly two hundred miles into the empire, as well as provided transportation over to the nearby Port Cambal, a journey of less than a day. Port Cambal was an Andurran owned strip of land that faced the Sun’ari sea and connected to the continent via manmade bridges at two points. It had been forcibly claimed by the Andurran empire nearly two centuries before and now it served as the primary port for the southern region, its deep waters allowing for ships of all sizes to dock there and the result was a thriving, vibrant mix of cultures competing to outdrink each other and the marine contingents that used it for shore leave. It sounded gloriously stupid and I couldn’t wait to experience it for myself.

  Our contact wasn’t due to meet us until the next day and so we hired a room at the Sinking Ship, a somewhat ironically named inn built on the decking nearest to the ferry. Over time the wood that served as its base had warped, giving the building the suggestion that it was due to fall over any moment. The inn itself was fairly pleasant; enough customers within to give it a sense of hustle and bustle yet not enough that you had to shout to be heard. The bartender was a short but stocky man, his head balding and arms bulging with thick corded muscle. Naval tattoos marked him as an ex-sailor and his attitude was initially stiff when we approached, his eyes quickly taking in our attire and the sword that Cassius carried at his side. He relaxed when he saw the colour of our coin and the charming smile Cassius gave him, releasing his grip on the cudgel that he had hidden behind the bar and instead serving us warm beer and a bowl of thick stew tha
t he had on constant simmer over the fireplace. By rights it should have been disgusting but the slow cooked vegetables and whatever type of meat he had in there hit all the right spots, its flavour working surprisingly well with the beer. A few more coins and we had ourselves a room, the cracks in the wood work serving as windows into the outside world. With full bellies and content smiles we wrapped ourselves in our jackets and dropped into exhausted sleep.

  I awoke in the early hours of the morning, sensing that something was off. Cassius continued snoring merrily away, blissfully unaware of anything amiss, but I knew that something had changed. The moonlit shadows that filtered through the cracks in the wall flickered and I sat up, reaching out to my nearby harness for a knife. Another flicker and then the whole ceiling creaked as though something had just put its whole weight onto it. Cassius was awake now, Asp half bared on his lap. I held up a hand to stall him and breathed in, putting my senses to work. After a moment I relaxed, giving a smile towards the biggest crack in the wall.

  “Hello Borza,” I said calmly. “Where have you been?”

  An orange eye the size of my palm pressed itself into the crack and fixed me in its sights. A shudder and then the piece of wood came free with the low crumble of rotted wood. In the gap was the mighty orangutan, a mischievous smile on its face. It collated all the wisdom of its years, all the ancient knowledge, secrets and comprehension and delivered it in one short sentence.

  “Oook.”

  Present Day

  It was interesting that the further we pushed north the safer we seemed to be. Nothing lived out here. It was as if life had been extinguished with no evidence of birds or insects and surprisingly little in the way of vegetation. Whether the thyrkan had consumed everything as their armies had marched or there was some unnatural force keeping nature at bay I wasn’t sure, but it meant that there was a complete lack of thyrkan forces to contend with.