by A L Wright
Finally standing up and walking to the table, he was reminded that he was not the only one who had lost and never recovered. His father sat there stoically, conversing with the strange Noble while the wives of the fighting men brought them in a platter of freshly filleted beef and pitchers of ale.
This was the first time Dartein could recall seeing his father so far away from the Palace. Knowing that he accompanied Nikka back safely to the Keep made him feel pangs of guilt for having kept them all apart for so long. It was probably past time to remedy that situation.
Dartein seated himself next to Victor and was promptly handed a mug of ale from one of the women rushing around the hall. Not usually one for the human drink, he sat and sipped it quietly and contemplated all that had transpired over the last several days. In such a short amount of time everything had changed, turned upside down from how he had structured their lives nineteen years ago.
The talking at the table quieted for a moment.
“I never thought to see you out of the Palace, father.”
Mortul swung his head around to take in his son.
“I never truly have had much reason to leave it. Things are quite different now, and I have several reasons to be away.” He smiled and glanced over at Nikka. Looking back to Dartein, he continued. “Fortunately, I have a small handful of Nobles who can run things well in my absence for the time being.”
“Then things truly have changed. I don't seem to remember you trusting very many with such important details before.”
“Indeed. But events with the goblins are coming to a head, and are undoubtedly much worse than we previously thought. I've filled the Palace, our home, with the muscle needed to defend it. I've also cultivated a few of the more intelligent Nobles for roles to help in the front lines of the coming battle. I do not intend to be unprepared this time.”
Mortul's magically enhanced youthful features took on a deep somber tone, making him look much older. It was quite obvious he was thinking of the past, of the Ancient War he had fought so long ago that had almost wiped out human life altogether.
Mortul spoke up again, “My son, this individual here was there with me in the Ancient War, and will be invaluable to us and the war efforts here and now.”
“You are Yosan, then? I had read the accounts written about the War, and had wondered what had become of you and Hudreia,” Dartein said to the other Warlock.
“Yes, that would be me. Hudreia and I have wandered the continent for so long that much of it is a blur now. I intend to raise my Chamber from its resting place, so we can take up volunteers of humans to be turned. I believe you visited the site of the Chambers vault before?” Yosan replied.
“Ah, yes. Yes, I did. It feels like yesterday, yet it feels like forever ago. I was able to open the vault, but unable to move the Chamber.” Thinking of his failed attempt at recovering the only thing that would save his Josaleene made him feel the despair anew.
“My condolences on the loss of your lady love. I lost my wife after the war was over, and I grieve for her still to this day,” Yosan said softly.
“Twenty years, and it still feels like yesterday.” Dartein whispered.
“'Tis but a fraction of the time that you will need to heal. Even after a thousand years, your heart will still break every time you think of her. I do not say that to cause despair, but to warn you. Make her loss your strength. Especially in the war to come.”
Chapter 25
The rest of the people seated around the table had taken in the discussion thus far quietly. But the talk of the grief over her mother's death was more than she could bear, and she could stay seated at the table no longer. Squeezing Victor's hand, she spoke up in the brief silence that had ensued after Yosan's advice.
“I would like to check on Matten, and see if there is anything I can do to help speed his recovery.” She swung her legs around over the bench, rose and quickly walked away.
She was kneeling down by the man who seemed to have befriended her father in a very small amount of time, when she felt Victor kneel down beside her. Nikka was glad to have him there, he gave her strength and helped to calm her thoughts.
“Are you alright?” He asked her.
“I am. It is difficult hearing others speak of my mother's death with such grief, when I never knew her to mourn her. I don't know any different from being here in the Keep with Father and you.”
Victor put a large hand on her shoulder. His touch still made her heart race as it did the first time. The fleeting thought of their first embrace, their first kiss, flashed through her mind. Pushing it firmly away as a distraction, she looked down on her patient.
Matten was breathing deeply, which was a good sign. Placing her hand upon his chest she could feel his heart beating faster than normal, trying to pump around what little blood he had left. It was definitely enough to keep him alive, but he would have a long recovery of it. The idea came to her then, of how she had healed his wound and how she may be able to use the same strategy to rebuild his blood supply.
Nikka placed her other hand on his chest, over his heart, and concentrated on the process happening inside. She could feel the blood flowing weakly through the chambers of the heart. Concentrating even further, she envisioned being able to see down to each blood cell and mentally challenged them to reproduce themselves.
After several moments the trick in her mind started to work under her hands. She could both see and feel the blood reproducing itself, and the heartbeat slowed to a more normal rhythm. Looking up at Matten's face she could see color coming back to his cheeks and lips. She was so excited by this that she lost her concentration.
“My dear granddaughter, it seems you have quite the raw talent as a healer.” Her grandfather's voice behind her startled her, as she hadn't heard him walk up.
Turning her head upward to see him made her vision blur, and her head spin. Victor firmed up his grip around her shoulders, seeing her begin to fall aside. Nikka put her hands on her knees, closed her eyes, and willed the room to stop spinning.
“Are you alright?” Victor's voice dripped with concern.
“I am dizzy, but I think I am fine,” Nikka whispered.
“She has a lot of power, and trying to learn to focus it can be incredibly draining. She should rest a while.” Nikka felt her grandfather's hand brush the back of her hair before he moved away.
Victor stood up then and hauled her to her feet, holding onto her shoulders to steady her. He peered down at her intently, waiting for her to give a sign that she was okay. When she didn't say anything, he scooped her up and settled her against his strong, broad chest.
“I have you, no worries. We'll get you lying down and resting now.” Victor's voice sounded far away, and she realized her vision was going dark as she felt him begin to move.
✽ ✽ ✽
Nikka woke just a short time later, in her own bed, with Victor next to her. His head was propped on his hand and was staring intently at her.
“How long have you been staring at me?”
Victor smiled at her voice. “Only a few moments, really. You were asleep just a short time.”
“I already feel much better. Maybe I just tried too much for being so new to magic.”
“Well, you should continue to rest a bit. Just in case.”
Nikka felt herself flush a bit underneath his stare. Victor was always intense, in everything he did. Fighting, hunting, speaking. And that wasn't all. The time they had shared in the Palace began playing through her mind. He was a different kind of intense then. Yet, he hadn't pushed her to do it again. Of course, they hadn't had much privacy since then, either.
Nikka reached out and placed her hand on his chest, running her fingers lightly and slowly downward. Once she reached his waist she paused and looked at him with one eyebrow raised as if in question.
Victor's eyes widened just a bit at the questioning look on her face, then he smiled and reached over with his free hand, gathering her up against him. Nikka st
retched her body along his, wanting to touch as much of him as possible at once. Just as his hands had made their way from her shoulders to her hips, a knock sounded at her door.
Exasperated, she fell backwards onto the bed behind her.
“Yes?” She called.
“Just checking in on you.” Came her father's voice through the door.
Victor swiftly sat up and scooted to the end of the bed, then ran his hands through his hair to smooth it down.
“Come on in,” Nikka called, smiling at Victor's nervous reaction.
Dartein slowly opened the door, as if he was waiting until the last possible second to spot what may be going on in his daughter's room.
“I'm glad you are awake,” her father said as he finally opened the door fully. “Your grandfather told me what happened.”
“Yeah,” Nikka said as she sat up. “I guess I just tried too hard too soon, without knowing my limits.”
“I am definitely not surprised that you have magic, but I have to admit to feeling properly guilty for not exposing you to your grandfather before, so that you may have had a better chance to develop those talents sooner than now.”
“Now is better than never. And I am truly sorry for running off and worrying you. But I will not lie and say that I am sorry I did it. So many things have come about because of it.” Nikka glanced at Victor, smiling.
Her father didn't miss her action. He heaved a huge sigh before speaking again.
“I will have you both know that I am glad you two finally gave your feelings a chance. You may think that I am bothered by it, but I am truly not. I will always be your over-protective father. But I could not think of anyone better to help take on that role of protector than my old guard and greatest friend.”
Nikka rose from the bed and rushed over to hug her father.
“Thank you. I will take good care of him, too.”
Pulling away she walked back over to the bed and sat next to Victor. He pulled her up against him and she lay her head on his shoulder.
“We've settled a few things on our next moves, and I wanted to inform you of them,” Dartein said. “Yosan will be riding north to excavate his Chamber, and our rangers will be escorting him. He insisted we not waste our time, but I've seen the hordes in the Lothnau Forest before, and would not want to miss the chance to take some of them out. Also, I know where the entrance to one of their underground dens is located.”
“Are you sure that making a first strike against the Enemy is a good idea?” Victor spoke up.
“I think it is better than waiting for them to finally rally and come at us in swarms. If we hit them hard with two warlocks in our ranks, we may just wipe out that colony and none of the others would find out for some time.”
“That is a pretty large if, my friend,” Victor said.
“I realize that, as does my father and Yosan. I honestly think they are itching for a good scrap. Seems tonight's small battle only whetted their appetite. I think we are in for a real surprise about my father, Victor. I think we are about to see the real things that were created all those years ago, and what they are truly capable of.”
Chapter 26
Just two nights later, after Dartein made sure Matten was healed enough to stand watch over the Keep during their absence, he and his rangers and fighters assembled in the yard to begin the trek west then north into the Lothnau Forest. He had everyone counted up and was turning to wave farewell to Matten when he spotted Nikka and Victor leading their horses towards him.
“Nikka, I wish you would not come for this. I would be a poor father indeed leading you into battles.”
“Well if Mordred is to be believed, your daughter is the key to our survival and chances of winning,” Yosan spoke up from next to him. The warlock was checking the saddle cinches on his enormous mount.
“Mordred? Isn’t she just some village fortune teller?” Victor asked.
Yosan looked up at him and barked a short laugh. “Mordred is many things, and I guess fortune teller could be one of them. She is a Seer, and as far as I know, the only one of her kind.”
“Indeed, she is the only one, which is why she bargained with me for eternal life when I set her as the watcher of the village in the Northern Reaches.” His father walked up behind Nikka and Victor, leading his horse to the front of the assembly near Dartein.
“Aye, I had wondered how she was still haunting us these days,” Yosan said, turning away from his horse to look at Mortul. “Her having been turned seems to have enhanced her powers of obscurity as well.”
“It did have some interesting side effects on her powers. I am not completely sure of all the changes, but her omens have always been accurate. When she chooses to actually tell us of them, anyway,” Mortul added.
“I wonder if she would have said anything about Nikka to any of us had myself and Hudreia not travelled to the vault.” Yosan mounted as he spoke.
“I was there when she spoke of it to Nikka's mother,” Victor stated.
Dartein's attention snapped to Victor, as did everyone else’s.
“I forget that you were there for that. That visit to the Seer was what spurred me to rush north.” And miss the pain of his beloved’s death. Maybe it had been a blessing in disguise, considering he could not have saved her.
He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, and looking up he saw that Victor had come over to give what little comfort he could. Dartein gave his friend a lopsided smile and patted him on the back.
“Let's get mounted and moving. I think I am starting to feel the need to kill something, myself.”
At his signal, all the men mounted and moved their horses into a double file formation. He spurred his horse to the front, where his father joined him, Yosan directly behind them. Nikka and Victor decided to ride in the rear, and would be one of the points of contact for the scouts after they rode out to gather the lay of the land.
The scouts had been ordered that as soon as they spotted goblins, to ride straight back to the group and not try to fight any of them on their own. Dartein was sure that after the small battle the other night, they were sure to understand the greater fighting power rode alongside him. Yosan volunteered to scout once they came into the heavier woods, since his mount could move cat-like through the forest.
And so they rode, quickly and quietly through the tall grass plains, scouts darting in and out of their group, falling into an easy rhythm of information fetching and relaying. The fighters riding in line had muffled their equipment so their swords and daggers didn't clink. Their mail was light and padded as well, noiseless and easy to move in. They had traded bits and snaffles for leather braided bridles. The only sounds that were made were the clop-clop of horses’ hoofs falling softly in the grass and small creaks from leather saddles.
Seen from afar, their group looked like a squadron of pale riders, death's troops out riding to meet their enemy in the Otherlands. From a distance the only thing to give them away would be the reverberations through the ground, to animals sensitive enough to feel it.
When a few hours had passed and their mounts grew tired, Dartein ordered a stop. As the group came in, they dismounted and tethered their horses out to graze. They settled down in the long grass and stretched their legs. No need for a fire, as the weather was plenty warm and they had nothing which needed to be cooked.
Coming over from staking out their horses, Nikka and Victor took a seat near him. He expected to see his daughter full of excitement on her first ride out to possible battle, but she looked thoughtful and somewhat grim.
“What plays on your mind tonight, Nikka?” Dartein asked her.
Nikka looked over at her father and then over to Victor, clearly unsure of what she was about to say. Finally, his daughter took a deep breath and began talking.
Chapter 27
Ithink there are a couple of things I need to air out, and ask, before we potentially have a battle on our hands.” Nikka looked straight at her father. “First, I need to know what the blood i
s being stockpiled for.”
Nikka watched her father's eyes grow bigger for a split second, then relax as he realized his secret was important to share now.
“Well, I guess this will be a good discussion, then. But one that should be discussed with your grandfather and Yosan present.” Her father turned and waved at a ranger a few feet away. “Clyd bring me a couple casks from the pack horses, will you?”
“Sir?” Clyd was obviously unsure, hovering between following an order and keeping his leader’s secret.
“Yes, it is time to bring this little secret of ours into the open,” Dartein said.
“As you wish.” Clyd nodded his head and disappeared into the dark towards the horses.
“There is a secret among the Nobles, and only a few of us know of it, about the effects that fresh blood has upon us. It was written in the history of the Ancient War that the Warlocks had stored blood to drink before battle. It amplified everything about them; their speed, their strength and most of all, their magic. My father had told me of this secret before I ran off to find the Chambers in an effort to save your mother.”
Nikka glanced over at Victor, wondering why he had never told her about this. Victor met her gaze and gave a small shrug, as if to say he was sorry. But she understood, really. He was her father's friend before he was her lover. She couldn't fault him for his loyalty.
She snapped her attention back to her father as Clyd walked back from the horses, with three small casks in his arms. Handing them over to her father, he turned and walked back out to the horses without a word.
Handing her and Victor each a cask, he began to speak again.
“In the history, and from what my father told me, there is a large difference between drinking properly stored blood and drinking it straight from a main vein. Properly stored blood maintains quite a bit of its enhancing properties, but has a much milder effect. It is also not nearly as addictive.”
