by Jason Kenyon
‘Well, unless you didn’t notice,’ Valia said, ‘Greed isn’t a big army about to knock the walls down. There’s no reason for the wall aside from simple craziness. It seems to me that Bartell may be plotting some sort of mass murder within these walls.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ Terrill said. ‘He might be acting a little… uh… weird… but he’s not that crazy.’
‘I wouldn’t wager any money on that,’ Valia said. ‘If half of what these two told me about him is true, I’d guess he’s more than a little unhinged.’
‘He made me think of a big sorcerous bully,’ Obdo said. ‘Mainly just taking a lot of pleasure in doing what he did.’
‘Whatever he claimed, there was dark magic afoot,’ Neurion said. ‘I do not trust those who consort with evil, for whatever reason.’
‘What if a necromancer saved the world, then?’ Obdo asked. ‘Because of his powers specifically.’
‘There is nothing a necromancer can do that a paladin cannot do better!’ Neurion said.
‘Can you raise the dead?’
‘…No.’
‘Create great creatures of magic to protect you?’
‘…No.’
‘Has any paladin ever transformed into a giant dragon?’
‘Oh, be quiet,’ Neurion replied. ‘We have our own powers. And it is a paladin’s duty to follow, not lead. That way we avoid getting too big-headed.’
‘Yeah, you paladins are all so humble,’ Obdo said.
‘What are you inferring?’ Neurion asked.
‘I’m not inferring, I’m saying quite plainly,’ Obdo replied. ‘You paladins are so far up your own arses your beloved Light can’t make you shine.’
‘Now look here, necromancer, you’re supposed to be reformed,’ Neurion said, poking a finger at Obdo’s stubby nose.
‘What the heck are you talking about?’ Terrill asked. ‘That guy’s got as much magical ability as Mister Forseld here…’
‘Master Archimegadon is a highly skilled mage,’ Neurion said, leaving his finger pointing in Obdo’s face.
‘He’s not,’ Gelenn said, shaking her head. ‘He might be your friend, but… I mean, even his magical staff is near-useless.’
Neurion snatched up the Staff of Antagules and held it tight, aghast. ‘Leave the Staff of Antagules out of this!’
‘Oh please,’ Terrill said. ‘Look at it, it’s just some stick someone found in a forest.’
‘Shows what you know about magic,’ Neurion said with a glare.
‘Would you lot shut up?’ Mortimyr asked.
Everyone did so.
‘Uh…’ Obdo looked around the silence to see if it was safe to break it. ‘Well, now everyone’s being quiet, can I ask Miss Harpy how she got caught by that silly mercenary?’
‘No,’ Valia replied.
‘Oh, go on.’
‘Look, I thought he was more interested in… uh… me… than in getting hold of you bunch,’ Valia said, folding her arms with a scowl, her cheeks burning. ‘He was so stupid all the time that I presumed I had him well-fooled, so I thought I could find some stuff out. He babbled all sorts of things that clerk of Bartell’s told him.
‘Well, now you all know that stuff, and more besides… but anyway I felt it my duty to find you and warn you. Shouldn’t have wasted time trying to see if you were going back to Melethas. I should have known you’d run straight to Aldrack in search of money and glory. I guess he wasn’t fooled after all, in the end.’
‘No surprise he was just tricking you in return,’ Obdo said. ‘You have the sex appeal of a stone.’
Valia’s glare could quite easily have killed him, but at that moment a wasp buzzed into Obdo’s face and he fell off his chair with a loud and painful bump and clatter.
‘What did you do with Broadblade?’ Neurion asked Terrill.
‘Uhm… well, you saw,’ Terrill replied. ‘Morty thwacked him and left him there. Heh.’
‘Nice,’ Obdo said from where he lay stricken on the floor. Knocking another table and some other drinkers, he leapt to his feet and nearly fell across the table, but for the timely intervention of Mortimyr. ‘Thanks. So, what now? I for one am done. I’ve had enough of being near-butchered, and it looks like the insects near Aldrack are evil too. I’m going back to my farm… and I might as well take Sir Mage here, I feel sorry for the old fart. We’ll get him a nice job on the farm and perhaps in time that silly spell will break and he’ll be back to his old self.’
‘Let’s hope that day never dawns,’ Valia said, folding her arms.
‘Well, thanks for the information and all that,’ Terrill said, ‘not to mention the “advice”, but I think we can manage what you’re incapable of. We’ll take Bartell and Delarian out ourselves, tonight. Agreed?’ He eyed his team-mates, who nodded without much consideration. ‘Course, if we fail, you’re welcome to carry on the cause, but… well, Bartell wouldn’t be the first criminal we bring to justice.’
‘Don’t be fools,’ Valia said. ‘Bravado is all well and good against a single demon, but Bartell and Delarian command the corrupt remains of my knightly order, the Endless Skies, who are probably there in force to stave off any interference now they’ve put up this shield. It’s certain death in there.’
‘Where is your faith?’ Terrill asked, grinning.
‘With the Light,’ Neurion replied. ‘For that reason I am going to Verrinion Cathedral. It’s the closest paladin base so it might be within this dome of Lord Bartell’s, so I’ll see what Commander Grand has to say on the matter.’
‘Your paladin leader is called Grand?’ Obdo asked.
‘Yes, why?’ Neurion replied, looking uncharacteristically irritated.
‘No reason.’
‘For all your mockery,’ Valia said, ‘Neurion’s had the best idea of the lot of us. This is bigger than a small band of idiots. Looking for help is not shameful, you know. Just running away won’t solve anything.’
‘It will make me feel a lot better,’ Obdo said. ‘After lugging an oozing demon head across the country, being captured and imprisoned and then kicked out of a tyrant’s castle I feel a good session of recovery will do me good.’ He looked at Ardon. ‘I think Sir Mope will get something good out of it too.’
Valia looked at Ardon, who was gazing at his ale just as before. ‘Uhm… I really don’t think so.’
‘Say what you like! It’s a tried and tested formula!’
‘Interesting as this is, we have an attack to plan,’ Terrill said, and he and his friends rose to depart. ‘See you on the other side, as it were.’
‘I do hope you mean after success,’ Obdo said.
‘What else?’ Terrill asked with a smile.
The rest of the would-be adventurers at the table watched Mortimyr, Terrill and Gelenn leave before resuming their discussion.
‘Where were we?’ Obdo asked.
‘Nowhere particularly useful,’ Valia replied. ‘Well, I suppose we’ll be leaving Ardon in your hands, then, Obdo?’
‘To my horror,’ Obdo replied. ‘But nah, we’ll have a working Archimegadon at the end of it, I assure you.’
‘I will pray for him,’ Neurion said.
‘I doubt the Light would give a hoot about Sir Mage,’ Obdo said. ‘Not sure he’s very religious.’
‘Everyone is religious deep down,’ Neurion said.
‘Not sure there’s much room for religion next to his gold obsession,’ Obdo said. He watched Ardon for some sort of response, but the ex-mage remained quite silent. ‘Ugh. I can’t believe I miss him.’
‘Nor can I!’ Valia said. ‘He was a horrible man. How you can miss such a slimeball is beyond me.’
‘You’re right, I guess,’ Obdo said. ‘Still, we need to make him less boring. Hello?’ He prodded Ardon.
‘Don’t talk about me as though I am not here,’ Ardon said. ‘Just leave me be.’
‘Ooh, a response!’ Obdo said.
Valia flapped a hand at him. ‘Leave it. If he’s serious, we should respe
ct that.’
‘Spoilsport.’
‘Oh, shut it,’ Valia said. ‘And I want you to behave while I’m away, no antagonising him.’
‘Aye, as he’s never done that to me,’ Obdo said, a look of victorious realisation growing in his eyes.
‘Idiot,’ Valia said. ‘It’s been a long day for us all. Let’s get some sleep and see how tomorrow treats us.’
‘Judging from the current trend,’ Obdo said, ‘it’ll treat us like crap.’
Chapter Twenty-Four: Brothers in Arms
‘So, then,’ Bartell said, leaning back in his chair, ‘what news do we have today?’
‘Profits are up, sir!’ Elsim replied. ‘Lady Akarith reports that three more estates have been emptied. A few of them had little pockets of resistance, would you believe? But they have been crushed.’
‘Pff, what can they hope to achieve?’ Bartell asked. ‘Their loyalty is admirable, but unfortunately my knights are even more faithful than that. Trust earned in battle, Redrock! Those bonds are unbreakable!’ He took another swig of wine. ‘Yes, that’s where it all was. They wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me, eh? Eh?’
‘Of course, my lord,’ Elsim replied. ‘Lady Akarith has not yet sent a figure’ – he took on an expression of disgust – ‘but she has assured me that in gold alone the takings are significant.’
‘Good, good,’ Bartell said. ‘Excellent. Yes.’
‘I have plans in place for converting their land into farms and training grounds. Lord Jormen’s estate was too small and badly-kept to be of much use, so we intend to demolish it. Aside from that, though, exciting! Very exciting!’
‘Very nice, I will look over the plans later,’ Bartell said.
‘On a side note, a few knights have complained that the new hue of the sky is… erm… that it interferes when fighting,’ Elsim added.
Bartell glanced sideways through the grand window of his study, out across the city walls and to the formerly-green pine forests and hills. It was most likely a sunny day outside New Valanthas, but in here it was somewhat red, and in a dreary way to boot. Indeed, there had been various complaints from shopkeepers that the new lighting made the streets so dark that nobody could find their shops. So what? At least it was a symbol that control was being maintained… control that had quite severely been lacking before.
‘Bah,’ Bartell said, cutting his hand across the air. ‘Their opponents will have the same problem, only worse, as they will, I hope, be less well-trained than my troops. If my troops are admitting to being sub-par, then punishments are in order!’
Bartell punctuated this by slamming his fist on the table, which had the sole effect of spilling ink across everything. He made a concerted effort to ignore it all out of principle, including the ink lapping around his fist, although Elsim clearly noticed that many of his reports were being flooded out of existence.
‘Er… no, sir,’ Elsim said after a moment. ‘They are perfectly well-trained, sir. I will let them know that they are to carry on as before and fulfil their duties as required.’
‘Right, just as well,’ Bartell said, trying to subtly wipe his inky hand on one of Elsim’s reports. ‘Hmm, any word from the outer regions?’
‘Velris reports that the general populace of Lorevin has stopped trying to escape,’ Elsim replied. ‘Apparently they decided the dome cannot be traversed after losing some five people to it. But a force has had to be dispatched to the Verrinion Cathedral to keep order.’
‘Ugh, paladins causing trouble?’ Bartell asked.
‘Well, heh,’ Elsim replied with a giggle, ‘seems your big shield dome went zip’ – he made some incomprehensible hand motions in an attempt to show this – ‘straight through half the cathedral. Nobody was killed, but their Commander is a bit angry about the whole thing.’
‘Grand, that pompous upstart,’ Bartell said. ‘Bloody stupid of Salestis, appointing idiots like that to lead an entire army.’
‘Well, they are a rather stupid army,’ Elsim said. ‘You say so yourself, that those paladins are all idiots…’
‘Be quiet!’ Bartell said. ‘Perhaps those foolish schooled paladins. But not these ones, no, not the ones who follow Supreme Commander Salestis… they are much more dangerous. Do not be fooled. Grand will try to move against me, I am sure.’
‘Well, as I say, an army has had to be sent to contain them…’ Elsim tried to say.
‘Hush!’ Bartell said. ‘For a start, their cathedral is bigger than my castle! The Verrinion one, that is, not the silly Paladin School chapel they call a cathedral.’
‘Oh, but it’s not bigger any more,’ Elsim said, tittering.
‘Ah, well good!’ Bartell said. ‘Quite deserved.’
‘Apparently Commander Grand has summoned all paladins in range to the cathedral, and he’s making a stand against the “blatant evil” of your takeover.’
‘Is that so?’ Bartell asked with a smile. ‘An excuse to do him in at last. Clear supporter of Alhamis. He and his Supreme Commander gave those silly paladin schools the go-ahead. I’ll have him. Over the mark this time, and nowhere to run. Tell Akarith, once she’s done with the former aristocrats, I want her to take out the cathedral and Grand to boot.’
Elsim scratched down a note and nodded. ‘Yes, sir. Noted.’
‘Is there more?’
‘Only more of the same silliness as before,’ Elsim replied. ‘More rumours from Gale and Horan, even though our last searchers found nothing.’
‘Presumably you felt it noteworthy enough nonetheless,’ Bartell said.
‘Well, in light of the demon…’ The clerk pursed his lips. ‘The whispers grow stronger, my lord. They are no longer whispers but shouts! Shouts about the undead. About dark powers. About evil locked inside the dome with us.’
‘Demons and the undead?’
‘There is definite word of a necromancer, sir,’ Elsim replied.
‘Nonsense,’ Bartell said with a snort. ‘Not a chance.’ He paused. ‘I’ll send some troops there on a more permanent basis and we’ll soon find the truth.’
‘As you decide, my lord.’
‘You mentioned the demon before,’ Bartell said. ‘Those three went for it, yes?’
‘Aye, they killed it,’ Elsim replied with a nod.
‘Well then,’ Bartell said, smiling broadly, ‘I suppose that makes me more powerful than a demon!’
‘That stupid mage pretended he’d killed it,’ Elsim said, almost more to himself than to Bartell.
‘Forseld,’ Bartell said with a chuckle. ‘Not seen him about lately. Such a dreadful shame. I miss him so.’
‘Master Delarian did a good job,’ Elsim said. ‘Put him in his place!’
‘Indeed,’ Bartell said. He poured himself a fresh drink. ‘Any other news?’
‘Minor scuffles here and there.’ Elsim dropped some papers of a part of Bartell’s desk that was not currently drowned under ink.
‘More?’
‘Various requests from community leaders,’ Elsim replied, adding papers to the pile.
‘More?’
‘That’s all.’
‘More!’
‘No, sir, I’m sorry. That is all.’
‘But… but…’ Bartell floundered. ‘Surely… hasn’t any progress been made? Haven’t you opened the Tomb?’
‘The Clerics are in an inner chamber,’ Elsim replied, ‘but not the Burial Chamber. The Throne of Mirrors is yet beyond our reach.’
‘That’s what you told me last time!’ Bartell said. ‘I demand progress!’
‘It takes a while for word to get to us,’ Elsim said, his tone that of a kindly school teacher. ‘We have to take the dome into account, as the birds cannot get through. There’s Clerics on each side but it takes time to open a hole. Patience, my lord. Soon you will have all the time in the world.’
‘Hmph.’ Bartell downed the wine and trailed the glass around in the ink on his desk. ‘Very well, then. I will look over your reports. Dismissed.’
‘So many delays,’ Bartell said.
‘Stop worrying,’ Sen said, stepping out of the shadows. ‘And have patience, just as your clerk said. This is training for you. A test. You’re going to be jumping from controlling this little dome to ruling first the kingdom, then the world, once you get Vortagenses’s secret legacy.’
‘The difference being that I will, by that stage, be immortal,’ Bartell said.
‘Well, true.’
‘You assured me we would have the Throne of Mirrors within days,’ Bartell said. ‘But the Clerics are still at the same point.’
‘I will not let anyone kill you,’ Sen said. ‘Not that you need my protection these days,’ he added with a smile.
‘It was too close,’ Bartell said. ‘It’s one thing to attack things from afar, like at that ramshackle base, but stuck inside a small room I’m apt to blow myself up! These amulets of yours are no good for fighting indoors.’
‘You know not to,’ Sen said. ‘That’s enough for now.’
‘The message of my takeover has been lost,’ Bartell said. ‘Why can’t the people understand what we are doing?’
‘We cast the land in darkness, assumed total control and then sent our soldiers to force a sort of peace,’ Sen replied with a grin. ‘What do you think they think?’
‘Then why the hell tell me to do it like that?’
‘You said it yourself, because Orgus Alhamis was coming close and we didn’t want him finding the key to the Throne before we do. And more importantly for you, because it sets you up as leader. You are to be the god of these people. Fear creates awe. Awe we can use. But we need to ensure awe does not turn to hate. Hate breeds rebellion. They need to respect you. They need to know that while you lead them, you are one of them. A human. A hero.’
‘The fact I was a hero is all that saved me here,’ Bartell said. ‘Some people believe I am saving them at least.’
‘While others think the dome was created by an evil force to entrap you, oh great hero!’ Delarian said. ‘I have heard the tales, Auber. I’m offended I was left out. But it is best I have a low profile. Then, if we do have serious trouble, they won’t see me coming.’
