Five Kingdoms: Book 07 - Wizard Falling

by Toby Neighbors

  “Take your men and go east, Zorlan. I will send a legion of troops to serve under your command.”

  “No,” Zorlan said. “You are obviously ill. I shall stay and serve until you are well.”

  “Go now, or I will have you bound hand and foot and left out as a gift to the approaching army,” Wilam said angrily.

  “You have no right!” King Zorlan shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the shouts of the soldiers in the feasting hall.

  Zorlan tried to get them to be quiet, but when he couldn’t he stalked back to his rooms. The men downstairs cheered and the soldiers from Falxis looked nervous. Wilam then raised his good arm to quiet the room. He swayed on his feet and the healer came up and steadied him until he could take hold of the rail.

  “King Zorlan and his men aren’t to be harmed. They are to be treated with honor and respect. We will fight side by side until the witch’s army is defeated. Is that clear?”

  The men all shouted their affirmations and then the cooks and servers hurried in with platters of food and tankards of ale. Wilam backed slowly away from the rail and was helped back to his room. Brianna joined Quinn and Mansel for the evening meal but she couldn’t get what Wilam said and what he hadn’t said out of her mind.

  …until the witch’s army is defeated.

  She couldn’t help but wonder what Wilam would do after that.

  Chapter 18

  Zollin felt the darkness pressing in on either side. He remembered his father telling him on cold, stormy nights that the darkness couldn’t overcome the light. He would light a candle and they would sit together, watching the flame, imagining the battle between the dark and the light. That had always been a comforting thought, but now he was no longer convinced. The darkness of the underworld was different. It wasn’t merely the absence of light, it was as if the darkness was a living, breathing entity, one that sought to darken all the world.

  Water was still pouring into the crevasse, but Zollin was safe on the far side of the giant fissure. He had followed the crack, sometimes coming close to the wall of the massive cavern, sometimes moving further into the huge space. Zollin had to reassure himself that the crevasse wasn’t a giant circle. He had come into the cavern and had crossed the crevasse, surely it couldn’t run in a circle unless he was now following the inside of the circle, going forever round and around. He told himself that it wasn’t possible but he couldn’t convince himself. It seemed like he had been walking for days. Time was impossible to judge in the never ending darkness. And the more he walked the stronger the darkness felt.

  He considered just jumping into the crevasse. It started as just a thought, but before long the idea had grown and taken on a life of its own, as if someone were shouting to him to jump. Then he thought he heard a siren’s song calling to him from the dark fissure. He fought the urge to leap out into the darkness. He reasoned that he could levitate himself, he wouldn’t die, and perhaps even the witch was further down into the darkness below. But something in the back of his mind kept him from acting on the temptation.

  He was tired from walking and was about to lie down again and try to rest, when he saw something in the distance. At first he didn’t believe his eyes. He hadn’t seen anything in the massive cavern without shining his own magical light onto it, but now he saw something. He moved toward it instinctively, having to tear his eyes away from the faint glow ahead to occasionally make sure he wasn’t walking off the edge of the crevasse.

  Eventually he could see that the glowing objects were confined to a small space ahead and as he drew nearer he could see it was a tunnel leading out of the cavern. The tunnel was large and entirely on his side of the giant fissure. He walked into the space which arched over him and was surprised to see blotches of glowing lichen. The glistening lichen was a ghostly silver and didn’t cast light into the tunnel. They were like stars in the night sky, visible without pushing back the darkness. The tunnel was large, a full wagon could have easily been pulled through the space. Zollin felt somehow safer surrounded by the glowing lichen. He walked far into the tunnel, relieved that the lichen continued to grow.

  His own light shining around him revealed nothing beyond a smooth stone floor. Elsewhere in the great abyss the stone floor was rough and uneven, cavelike. But here the floor was flat and smooth, almost polished as if thousands of feet had worn the stone smooth after countless centuries. Zollin stretched out next to the wall, and lay with his head on his pack, gazing up at the glowing roof of the tunnel, before slowly drifting off to sleep.

  When he woke he was pleased to find the lichen still glowing. He sat and ate the last of his bread, sipping the water he’d collected from the underground lake. It wasn’t a satisfying meal, but he got up and got moving. He didn’t want to grow weak from lack of food before he faced the witch.

  He walked through the glowing tunnel for hours and eventually came to areas where large portions of the tunnel walls were dark. He let his magic stretch out and examined the dark places. He was surprised by what he saw. Thick gold veins filled the dark areas. The gold reflected his magical light and looked like bolts of lightning snapping through the stone. Zollin wasn’t a miner and didn’t know much about gold, but he couldn’t imagine gold veins this rich were common.

  He examined several places where the gold was abundant, but kept moving, eventually ignoring the dark areas. He knew he needed to find Gwendolyn, but he still wasn’t sure how to do it. Then came the screams. At first it was so soft and so eerie that he thought he was imagining it. Then he moved into an area where the lichen suddenly stopped growing and the tunnel opened up to a larger cavern. The smooth stone floor continued ahead of him, but the walls and ceiling disappeared into the darkness.

  He considered his options and tried to send a magical beam of light through the darkness, but the light failed as if it were swallowed up in the dark, revealing nothing. So he took a deep breath, steadied his nerves and pressed on. Once he was out of the tunnel he realized the walkway was actually a bridge out over open space. He tried to use his light to see down over the edge of the smooth stone path, but once again he could not illuminate anything. There were only two options, one was to turn back, but he knew the witch was not behind him. The other option was to move forward, but as he did so the sound of screams grew louder and more distinct.

  The screams caused the hair on the back of his neck and along his arms to stand on end. It was as if someone were killing people savagely, their death cries echoing off the stone walls and ceiling of the cavern. Fear squeezed Zollin’s chest. He’d seen men die, he’d been responsible for killing men, but always in a fight, never simply to end a person’s life and never for pleasure. The sounds made him want to turn and run the other way, to climb back up and out of the abyss. He had felt despair in his quest before, even an unnatural depression which had almost ended his journey in tragedy, but what he felt now was different. He was afraid, so deeply afraid that it was difficult to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

  Eventually he came to a place where the screams seemed to be coming from. He peered over the edge of the bridge but still couldn’t make out anything. The screams were louder here and even though he held his hands over his ears, pressing hard to block the sound, he could still hear the voices. It was more than just hearing, he realized. It was as if he could feel the desperation to make whatever was causing the screams to stop. He didn’t know if he wanted to make it stop for himself, or if he was experiencing some form of deep empathy, but he knew he had to keep moving.

  He hadn’t moved a hundred paces when the screaming abruptly stopped. There was no echo, no reverberation of sound to indicate that the screamer had suddenly ceased wailing. The sound ended so suddenly it made him wonder if he he had gone deaf.

  “Hello,” he said, relieved that he could hear his own voice.

  “Hello!” he shouted, and received the echo he was hoping for in response.

  The sound was comforting enough to keep Zollin moving forward. He didn�
��t know what caused the screams or why they had stopped, but he felt relived. He quickened his pace, letting his light shine out further ahead.

  Then he heard something that made his blood run cold. It sounded like a snake slithering, the smooth scales sliding on the stone floor. Then he smelled the sickly sweet smell of rotting flesh. It made his stomach heave and he almost vomited, but he steeled himself. Something was in the darkness ahead of him. He raised a strong, invisible bubble around himself and let his light shine brighter. Fear made his magic roll like an angry sea. The power from his inner reservoir crackled up and down his body.

  Then he heard the breathing, deep reverberating tones almost like a war horn, but soft. The creature was close and Zollin let his magical senses flow out. He could feel the bridge, the great expanse of emptiness on either side of it. Ahead of him a wall of stone rose up. As he let his magic flow around the wall, he could feel the sides curving away from him. It was a tower or obelisk. His magic flowed into the structure and he sensed that it was hollow inside, or at least open with rooms and stairs leading down.

  But most of his attention was focused on the creature guarding the small entrance that the bridge led to. It was a large creature, with the long, serpentine body of a snake but with huge pincers for arms and a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth.

  Zollin stopped moving and examined the monster that stood in his way. He needed to get past the beast, but it was so large there was no way to go around it. It sat coiled on the end of the bridge, a great forked tongue flicking in and out of its mouth. Then it spoke.

  “Welcome, Wizard,” it hissed. “We’ve been expecting you.”

  Chapter 19

  It was late when Brianna finally went up to Wilam’s rooms. Nycoll had told them coming out and speaking had exhausted him. He had slept nearly three hours before waking and calling for her. Brianna went upstairs and made her way quietly into the king’s anteroom. General Tollis and Symon, the king’s chief aide, sat talking in hushed tones. Brianna tried to see if the ageing general had a look of ambition about him. Brianna remembered how General Corlis had seemed, arrogant and self assured, but General Tollis only seemed tired.

  She nodded to the two men and went into the bedchamber. Wilam was propped in the bed and the healer was helping him sip some wine.

  “My lord,” Brianna said quietly.

  “Sit… please,” Wilam said weakly.

  “He’s in a lot of pain, I’m afraid,” said the healer. “I have some herbs that would dull the pain but he’s refusing.”

  “You must listen to the healer,” Brianna said. “You will have to withdraw back into the hills soon. You don’t want to endure the pain of that.”

  “No,” Wilam said. “I have… an army… to lead.”

  “You have generals to do that.”

  “If I… don’t do it… we may not… have… a kingdom… any more," he said sadly. “It seems… a king’s life…. isn’t worth… much… anymore.”

  “Don’t talk like that,” Brianna said.

  “Don’t worry… my love… I shall… survive.”

  “You need your rest,” Brianna said. “I have to go south tomorrow, to help with the cavalry.”

  “Yes…” Wilam said. “That’s why… I called… for you.”

  His breathing was raspy and sweat was breaking out on his forehead and neck.

  “Send Hausey… back to me.”

  “You want me to send General Hausey back here?”

  “Yes,” he nodded.

  “With the cavalry?”

  “No… just Hausey.”

  “Alright,” Brianna said. “I’ll send him.”

  “Good,” he said, laying back and closing his eyes.

  “He needs to rest now,” the Healer said.

  “Of course,” Brianna said. She looked at Wilam compassionately for a moment. He didn’t deserve to be in such pain again. He had suffered so much already. She thought that she would take his pain away if she could.

  She left the king’s rooms and went to the small room where Quinn slept. He was preparing for bed when she knocked.

  “Do you have room for one more?” she asked him.

  “Always for you,” Quinn said.

  The room was small, with two narrow cots and one low table with a basin of water and some towels stacked on it. There was hardly room for one person to move between the two cots, but Brianna only needed a place to sleep. Since her powers had grown, she didn’t need as much sleep as normal. Still, she had spent the previous night healing Tig and now she was very tired.

  “I’ll be leaving in the morning,” she told Quinn. “Selix and I will be leading the pride of dragons to help the cavalry in their harrying attacks.”

  “Alright,” Quinn said, sitting on his own cot and staring across at her. “You be careful.”

  “I will be. King Wilam wants me to send General Hausey back here tomorrow.”

  “What for?” Quinn asked.

  “I don’t know, but I would guess that he is going to put Hausey in charge of the army. Wilam is very weak.”

  “He’s lucky to be alive,” Quinn said. “He wouldn’t be if Mansel hadn’t acted when he did.”

  “Thank him for me again,” she said.

  “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Yes,” Brianna said, knowing what the question would be before Quinn asked.

  “Did you tell Zollin how you really feel… before he went away, I mean?”

  “Yes,” Brianna said. “I told him everything. I was confused in Orrock, but I would have kept my promise to Zollin if King Felix hadn’t threatened my family.”

  Quinn nodded. “Kings aren’t used to hearing no for an answer,” he said sadly.

  “No,” Brianna agreed. “I guess they aren’t.”

  “I’ve found that things rarely go as planned in life. I never thought I’d outlive my wife. I never imagined that my son would become a wizard,” he chuckled a little. “And I didn’t think when Zollin left here that I would never see him again. But that’s life, we don’t have control, we only deal with things the best we can. You haven’t been given the best of choices, but you are smart and capable; there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish if you want to, I’m convinced of that.”

  She smiled at him and there were tears in her eyes.

  “And you should know that Zollin would want you to be happy. So do I. I’ll always be here for you, Brianna. You’ll aways be welcome with me.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Quinn blew out the candle that lit the room and they went to sleep. Brianna dreamed that Zollin was calling to her. She couldn’t see him in the darkness, but he was there, calling to her. She tried to find him, but he was always out of reach.

  The sun dawned on a cold, gray morning and Brianna slipped out of the room before Quinn woke. She stopped in the kitchen and took a loaf of bread with her.

  She filled a water skin and packed some dried rations in her pack. She wore a heavy cloak with gaps where she could slip her arms through. She expected the fire to burn her clothes, but hopefully the cloak would keep her warm and not get singed too badly during the battle.

  Selix was circling the feasting hall when she came out. The golden dragon landed gracefully on the village green. Brianna sprang up and onto the dragon’s back. They flew south, climbing up through the thick clouds until the sun could shine on them. The other dragons joined them one by one. Gyia was absent, the purple dragon had stayed close to the cavalry and Brianna used Gyia to hone in on where the legion waited.

  “Tig,” Brianna said, speaking mostly in her mind and pushing her thoughts toward the little, blue dragon. “Go scout the enemy and report back.”

  Tig didn’t reply, instead the little dragon sped away. Brianna marveled at Tig’s speed and the way the little dragon flew fearlessly into danger. She wished she felt as confident. She didn’t fear the coming battle, what she feared was that their best efforts would fail to stop the witch’s horde. She was surprised tha
t Zollin hadn’t stopped Gwendolyn by now, but there had been no word from Zollin, no sign that he was even still alive. She had to physically shake her head to rid herself of the thought that Zollin might actually be dead. The witch could have killed him or perhaps some monster along the way. Still, Brianna guessed that if something had befallen Zollin she would somehow know it.

  After two hours of flight the dragons plunged back through the clouds. Below them the world was bleak and gray. The rolling green hills looked muddy and dark; the soldiers, already mounted and moving slowly south, seemed to trudge toward the enemy reluctantly. The sight made her sad.

  Gyia angled in from where the purple dragon had been flying in circles over the cluster of officers leading the cavalry. The pride flew playfully, despite the realization that they were going to fight very powerful beasts. The dragons had come south to help, and so far they had been relegated to scouting and hunting to help feed the refugees. Now they were going to fight and their ferocious nature was rising to the challenge.

  Selix swooped low and Brianna jumped off Selix’s back. She flipped and twirled before coming down near the cluster of officers who had just comes to a stop on the crown of a hill and were seated on their horses looking out over a wide plain. Brianna recognized General Hausey and went straight to him.

  “General, I have a message from King Wilam. He requests your presence in Walheta’s Gate immediately.”

  “What has happened?” Hausey asked.

  “King Zorlan goaded King Wilam into a duel. The king has been grievously wounded, but should live if I understand the Healer correctly. I cannot say what he wants exactly, other than you should make all haste in returning to the village.”

  Hausey turned to the officer next to him.

  “Erns, is the plan of attack clear?”

  “Yes General, crystal clear. I shall see it is carried out personally.”

  “Good,” Hausey said, then his voice rose as he addressed his staff. “Don’t waste the lives of our men. Your job is to slow and harass, not defeat this enemy army. Is that understood?”