by Thomas Rath
Helgar sent the majority of his people back to the Dorian Mountains where they were to rebuild Thornen Dar while he and Bardolf stayed behind to help with the clean up and to represent the Dwarf people when the new king was crowned. Rangor also stayed, ignoring Helgar’s ranting about not needing a babysitter.
Ranse dispatched the remaining army to burn the enemy dead and bury their own before sending them back to their old garrisons at Calandra and Aleron. It took six days to complete the task. The warrior healers returned to their original skills and helped their companions minister to the needs of the injured as the keep was turned into a hospital for the rest of the summer until all the wounded had recovered and were able to return to their homes.
When Dor and Erl were finally able to reach Jack, he had long since passed into the next world. Only a trail of blood marked the path that Resdin had taken in an attempt to make an escape but it soon ended with his body slumped over in a nearby closet. Ranse ordered that both bodies be wrapped in royal garments and prepared for burial. Jack would be laid to rest in the tomb of his fathers there at Bedler’s Keep with all the regalia and honor that was befitting a king, while Resdin was burned in a secret ceremony affording him as much honor as possible due to the circumstances. Though he’d fought with the enemy, none of those who knew the situation blamed him too harshly or objected to Ranse’s decree of mercy.
It wasn’t until the next morning when the men were gathering goblin bodies from the courtyard where Soyak had made her valiant stand that they were able to discover her body. Covered by the corpse of a huge troll, it appeared that both had impaled each other with the huge goblin landing on top of Soyak’s withered frame. She still had a smile on her face.
With tears in her eyes, Tam helped Dor gather the Tjal woman’s body, insisting she be the one that cleaned it in preparation for her funeral pyre. It was quickly determined that they would send her off with their respects that very night.
Jne was placed in a palatial room where she could be fussed over by at least two healers at all times. In the brief moments she was awake, she tried to send them away, insisting she was not in need of pampering, but thankfully she would almost just as quickly be overcome by exhaustion and fall back into unconsciousness. Thane had been able to heal up her wounds using his Tane, and he’d used his VerSagn blood to heal her from infection, but even he did not have the power to recreate blood in her body; at least not that he’d been able to discover so far. So, it was a matter of letting her rest and then forcing as much broth and liquid down her as she would allow in those brief and combative moments that she was awake.
Jack was interred that afternoon in a garden area that seemed a nice place to spend the afternoon. Even the tomb in its bright marble surrounded by spring flowers gave off a tranquil and peaceful feeling that didn’t plunge the visitor into the lonely contemplations of death but rather a celebration of the life once lived. Ranse had insisted that Jack’s body be paraded through the nearby town and then up the lonely walk toward his final resting place as was required to show respect when a king died, but he was quickly given over to agreement when the Chufa and Jack’s other close associates asked that only they be allowed at the interment grounds. Jack was not one to make a fuss over proper protocol in life and he certainly wouldn’t want to have to abide it in death either.
Tam, Dor, and Thane had kept to themselves on one side of the procession, walking in silence as Jack’s body was pulled on an extravagant cart through the town by a lone white stallion. Erl followed right behind, his head down and his tail curled deep between his legs. Domis and Teek had been granted the honor of placing the body into its vault where both of them spoke of their love for the man who had shown them such care. When his body was finally sealed behind a marble wall where it would stay for his eternal rest, Erl lifted his head and called out a mournful howl that had all those present drying there eyes as his giant wolg gave his last good-bye. Thane stayed back for a time with Erl, trying their best to comfort one another while everyone else went to enjoy a victory feast that was customary to celebrate the life and deeds of the deceased individual.
Rubbing Erl behind the ears, the wolg turned and licked Thane’s face in understanding and sympathy that brought Thane to tears as he reached out and touched the tomb. “Goodbye my father,” he whispered. “For you are the only one who deserves that name from my lips.”
* * *
A cold wind came up, rustling the cloaks of the three lone figures that stood beneath the clear midnight sky. The courtyard, that on the previous day had been the site of a great battle, had been cleaned of the bodies and blood that had polluted the now sacred ground where Soyak had given her life in defense of a people that were not her own. Ranse had dispatched a company of men to scour the area so that not the slightest evidence remained of what had occurred there. Gardeners had then been sent in to plant flowers and small trees whose beauty was lost on the trio in the darkness of night.
Thousands of stars looked down as if to pay their respects upon the lone pyre that had been put together for this very purpose. Ranse had wanted to build a tomb and monument for the Tjal woman so that people might visit it and remember her valor and deeds but Thane had refused, knowing that Soyak would not be happy, even in death, caged behind rock walls. No, she was to be burned as was customary for her people—for their people.
No one spoke a word as each remained comfortable in their own thoughts feeling it a greater sign of respect for her than if they tried to hail a woman all of them barely knew. Finally, feeling they had shown the proper honor, Thane placed his hand on the wood beneath Soyak’s body and called forth fire. The dry limbs erupted into a blaze almost immediately, quickly catching onto the body and consuming it with its heat. Tam threw on sprigs of rosemary to cover the acrid smell and then they all stood back and watched for a moment as Soyak’s body was given over to the flames.
Zadok’s body was never found.
* * *
Teek stepped out of the small hut that hugged the base of the looming peak and looked out across the large, clear lake that had been his home for nearly a whole year. Spring was giving way to summer again but the morning air was still chilled, as it always was, high in the Dorian Mountains. His once sun-bleached hair had taken on a darker hue while, conversely, his skin seemed to lighten some as he lost the tan that once was the badge of those living in the Teague Swamplands. Today he would make the last lonely trip to his natal home and deliver the gifts to the ancestors that would appease his family’s passing. It had not been his original intention to leave them until last but he wanted to give the best gifts to them and it had not been until the previous day that he’d found what he’d been looking for in Helgar’s mines.
A great diamond, bordered by two others just as grand but smaller in size stared back at him in the burlap sack. For the previous eleven months he’d worked deep in the earth along side the dwarf people he now considered his family, stripping the mountain of its precious metals while working to discover its treasures that he had weekly taken to the swamps and dropped in the water near the areas of his people’s homes as best he could remember. All along he waited until his gifts were worthy of the wonderful mother he still missed terribly, and the two siblings whose prattle he could still hear in the deep recesses of his dreams.
Tchee stood ready, a half eaten fish at her feet, as he greeted her with a quick hug before jumping onto her back. “We can’t dawdle today,” he said, stroking the soft feathers on her neck. “We need to get to the swamps and then back so we can get you ready. They will expect to see us in our full battle armor.”
Tchee squawked back at him. He knew she didn’t especially like the dragon scales that he’d fashioned, with Thane’s help, into a protective covering for both of them to wear. He supposed that it was because of the dragon’s scent that still permeated the armor, but it couldn’t be helped. No matter how hard or how often he scrubbed them with the yarrow roots found in plentiful supply around the lake there
still remained a slight and distinctive smell that made Tchee murmur in her throat.
“Now, don’t complain,” he said. “I’m wearing mine as well. Plus, you look fearsome in it and everyone will surely make a great fuss when we drop into Calandra for the wedding. I’m sure that Prince Ranse and Master Thane will certainly be impressed. I know that Domis will.”
He smiled at the thought of how his friend would react at seeing them. It had been too long since he’d enjoyed the company of his best friend and comrade in mischief. The thought of spending the entire summer as Prince Ranse’s guest in such a large castle together had already brought to mind some ideas as to what they might do to torture pure Jace or many of the other castle staff that would surely be easy targets for their shenanigans. The idea lifted his spirits some from the sorrowful task he was to complete the following day at the Teague.
Tchee didn’t seemed convinced though as she suddenly spread her great wings lifting them quickly into the morning sky and then turned to the south and the well known journey to Teek’s ancestral homeland.
* * *
Thane didn’t leave Jne’s side for a month until her orneriness at being forced to stay in bed had reached such a level that he knew she was out of physical danger. He sympathized for those unlucky enough to be assigned to care for her. Kat seemed to pull more duty than any of the others. He felt that it was most likely because Kat could be just as cantankerous as Jne and because the Tjal woman’s threats and rantings didn’t faze her. Jne actually grew to like the healer woman, sensing her strength of will and character, something that Jne could respect.
During the afternoons when Jne slept the most, Thane spent his time in the gardens at Jack’s tomb. He missed his old friend terribly and would often wet the marble crypt with his tears. The painful irony that Jack had spent his life searching for his son only to find him at the edge of his sword and then be killed by him as well was almost too awful to contemplate. Too often, he still found his rage building to levels of blind hatred for the man responsible for all of his sorrows in life—Zadok. That they could not find his body was somewhat troubling though he did not put too much thought or worry into the fact. The man was dead and gone. He knew it because it was his sword that had ended it.
Dor and Tam stayed at the keep for an extended period out of love and friendship to Thane and Jne, but also spent great amounts of time in the Underwoods with the Kybara visiting the YeiyeiloBaneesh grove. The keep was too confining for the Chufa, and though the Underwoods again hid the orcs, their numbers were so diminished as to make them almost an afterthought. And, with the Kybara as their companions, the horrors that were the Underwoods forest no longer seemed much of a threat.
When Jne finally showed signs of healing, they at last were able to convince Thane to leave her bedside for almost a week and return to the sacred woods with them. It was then that they returned the heart arrows to the YeiyeiloBaneesh trees and that Dor and Tam asked Thane to join them in the sacred FasiUm ceremony that would wed them for all time. He at first declined, feeling he did not possess the proper authority.
“You should wait until you return home and have the Kinpa do it,” he protested.
Dor looked at Tam, both staring at each other in sad confirmation as if discussing the matter with merely their eyes and then Tam turned to Thane. “We won’t be going back.”
“What?” Thane asked, somewhat surprised.
“There is nothing for us there anymore,” Dor explained. “Plus, we know that you will not be returning and,” he finished with the old twinkle back in his eye, “what fun is there to be had if you are not there to have it with me?”
“With us,” Tam corrected wrapping an arm around Dor’s waist.
Thane shook his head and then looked up at them and smiled. “And where is it that you plan to live, here?”
Dor shook his head slowly. “Ranse has asked us to come and live in Calandra. He wants to replant the city with trees and flowers and has asked that we be his chief gardeners.”
Thane smiled at the thought. What better use for a Chufa than to take charge of making things grow?
“He promised us that we could build our own hut on the castle grounds in the woods surrounding it,” Tam blushed slightly, “where we can raise a family.”
“I will visit you there as often as I am able,” Thane smiled, though they could sense a feeling of melancholy behind his words. They were all growing up and the world was no longer the small patch of woods where their people still lived in ignorance. Their paths were separating and the thought of it hurt. Certainly, they would still be able to see each other whenever they chose but it would never be the same.
“Actually,” Dor said, “we were hoping that you would come and make your home near ours.”
Thane smiled at the thought, feeling the draw of friends and family but he knew that his destiny was taking him elsewhere. “That would be wonderful,” he said drawing smiles from his friends that he quickly turned away, “but I have other responsibilities that I cannot leave for another.”
Dor’s countenance dropped slightly. “I understand,” he said, though his tone said otherwise.
“Who else is there to tend to the YeiyeiloBaneesh trees and help them to flourish so that one day our people may return to their proper place?” Thane asked. Then his voice dropped as he added, “And who else is there that can find the other TanIs’ Zadok stole and release their spirits into the afterlife?”
Tam reached out and touched his arm. “That is something we should all take part in,” she said glancing over to Dor who nodded enthusiastically. “Ranse can find others just as suited to plant his trees for him.”
Thane smiled but shook his head. “No, this is a task that was appointed to me alone and I will fulfill it. Plus, I will have Erl and Jne as company.”
At the sound of his name Erl thumped his tail on the ground where he lay curled up enjoying the bit of sun that touched the meadow around the YeiyeiloBaneesh trees. He had not left Thane’s side since Jack died; a comfort to both of them.
“Now,” Thane said in a cheerful voice that only sounded slightly forced, “let’s get on with joining you two as one.”
* * *
The spring air was invigorating with a slight chill that clung to one’s skin but with the promise of a beautiful warm day ahead. The tiny hill overlooking Calandra was carpeted with new grass springing up to meet the warming rays of the vernal sun and was mixed with a myriad of colors flashing in the breeze from fresh wildflowers that filled the air with a clean and soothing aroma.
Chtey’s hooves marred the ground as he crested the rise giving Thane a clear view of the area from where he sat upon his old friend’s back. They paused for a moment giving him an opportunity to scan the fields below and beyond. “It will be good to see everyone again,” he said as Jne rode up to stand beside him, Erl stopping on his other side. “A lot has changed since last we were here.”
Erl whined slightly and then nuzzled a cold, wet nose into his hand. Thane laughed, stroking the wolg’s fur and then scratching him behind the ear. They had come for the coronation, of course, as well as the wedding that would follow. The real wedding would take place on the Plains of Enn, but the happy couple had been convinced by the soon to be king that the city deserved to celebrate with them now that they had become endeared to its citizens.
Thane brushed the hair from his face only to have it playfully returned by the gentle breeze. His eyes lifted to the clear skies in time to watch the giant bird dropping down out of the west, the small figure of a boy firmly planted on its back. He smiled, remembering the tiny warrior and his stout heart knowing that another brave lad would be anxious to greet his friend again and possibly be the death of the castle staff as they certainly would return to their former mischief. It reminded him of himself and Dor when they were younger and he couldn’t help but wonder if they too wouldn’t find some sort of trouble to earn themselves a scowl or two. He would welcome such innocence again.
/> Jne reached out and touched his leg, all visible signs of her injuries gone. “Well,” she said, “shall we go and see our friends again?”
Erl turned a circle and yelped, his excitement to be on their way evident.
Thane turned his bright green eyes on her, taking in the beautiful smile that she seemed to reserve just for him. His heart leaped filling with the love that she offered him and that he shared with her. “I love you, Jne,” he said softly, her face seeming to brighten with the words.
“I know,” she replied, with her characteristic grin. “Now, let’s get you and Erl off of this hill and into the city to reunite Dor and Tam. I’m sure that they are just dying to see you. You have kept to the woods too long.”
Thane glanced at Erl who sniffed at the air as if finding in it a familiar scent. “Are you ready, boy?”
Erl slowly wagged his tail, not wanting to let go of the smell he’d latched onto but finally relenting as he turned and bound down the hill toward Calandra’s open gates.
“Hey,” Thane yelled, urging Chtey into full stride as he and Jne chased after him, just as anxious to be in the loving arms of friends once more.
THE END
Table of Contents
A Quick Sun Rises
Book 3 of the Master of the Tane
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
