The Secrets of Brymar (The Elitherian Fragments Book 1)

by James Coy-Dibley

  “As can my brother and all the rest,” she brushed off.

  Max shivered from the cold air, “I hope my brother doesn’t arrive in the middle of all this,” he said quietly. “I worry for him.”

  “I’m sure he’s safe,” she replied. “If Victoria fights as well as Elizabeth, then he’s in good hands.”

  Max nodded. “She fights even better than Elizabeth. Apparently, she’s had centuries to practice.”

  “Centuries,” Adriana muttered to herself. “It’s good that she’s on our side then.”

  “Yes, it is. She knows more than any of us.” They walked briskly down the main dirt road towards the front of the village. “I’m looking forward to hearing her explain more, and for everyone to see the map that she carries.”

  Adriana nodded. “That’ll be telling, I’m sure; and this map sounds very interesting.”

  “I think it’ll change everything,” Max said with a hesitant, hopeful smile. “I think that map and the stone will finally change our fortunes.”

  Chapter XXIII

  Richard could hear his horse panting beneath him as the three of them galloped down the dirt road towards Skee. Thrix rode at the front with Victoria closely behind. It hadn’t been long since leaving Onderal, but Richard’s horse refused to run any faster, unable to keep up with the other two well-rested ones; the poor creature needed to rest, and Richard knew it. He finally slowed his horse to a quick trot and called after the others.

  “Wait!” he called out after them, knowing that Victoria would hear him.

  Victoria slowed her horse, waiting for Richard to catch up to her. “What is wrong?” she asked.

  “My horse might collapse if we push him much harder,” he said, patting the horse’s neck. “He needs water and food. He won’t make it much further; I know him.”

  Victoria nodded, seeing the horse gasping for air. “Ride on my horse for a while,” she said, “and give yours a break.”

  “Why do we stop?” Thrix asked as he trotted beside them.

  Richard looked at Thrix’s horse again in awe. “My horse is tired.” He paused while staring at the bulging muscles. “I suspect your horse could carry mine if he wanted…and probably all three of us, too.”

  Thrix reached for the map on Victoria’s horse and pulled it out, the front erupting into scattered chaos before slowing to a readable pace. “They prepare to advance on the village,” he said. “I can see movement all around it.”

  “How many?” Richard asked. “Do you know?”

  Thrix stopped his hand over the flank in front of the village, and his eyes changed to a light red. “I see fewer than you might expect. They appear disorganised and tired. Something deters them from their full attack.” Thrix continued to look. “I see several of them wounded and many more dead on the ground. Something else attacked the Fortari.”

  Richard and Victoria both stared at him for answers.

  “Not all of the bodies are the same. Some of them wear white masks.”

  “The Laskil Order,” Victoria said, “why would the assassins attack them?”

  “The Fortari and Laskil Order must not be working together,” Thrix concluded. “It appears they fought each other on the outskirts of the village, and the Fortari prevailed.” He paused. “But from sheer numbers, it appears. The assassins were outnumbered at least ten to one.”

  “I wonder who leads them,” Victoria thought aloud.

  Thrix continued to speak. “The remaining forces are advancing towards Skee right now,” he added while rolling up the map again. He returned it to the conical container and attached it to his own horse. “A much larger force awaits them at the back of the village on the road to Brymar. I fear they will not be expecting the flank to the rear.”

  “We must warn them,” Richard said.

  “Yes, we must,” he muttered. “Skee is not much further down the road.”

  “I can almost see it,” Victoria said while focusing in the distance and pointing. “And you can see the streams of smoke in the sky.”

  They looked ahead into the misty distance. The second moon had almost completely fallen to the South, and the sun would peek above the northern horizon behind them at any moment now. Richard shivered. Ahead of him lay Skee, his whole family and everything dear to him, so close but surrounded by an entire army of the enemy. His family was in danger, and he was determined to reach them, determined to defeat this foul enemy and return to the safety Brymar.

  He took a deep breath.

  “At least the smaller numbers tip the battle in our favour,” Richard said, preparing to willingly witness battle and death once again. He shuddered just thinking of the sounds of it all and the burning sensation of adrenaline flooding his system. “That will help us as we enter Skee.”

  “Yes,” Thrix said. “But it’s the flank in the rear of Skee that concerns me. The forces in the front were mainly wiped out by the Laskil Order. The back, however, remains fully intact with much larger numbers.”

  “Come,” Victoria interjected, motioning for Richard to hop onto her horse. “Give yours a break.”

  He handed the reins to her before dismounting, stretching his legs on the ground. “How will we enter the village if they are surrounded?”

  “We will cut right through their lines,” Thrix replied. “The small number of forces in the front means it shouldn’t be hard to break through.” Thrix shook his head. “We will need to kill every one of these foes to avoid being followed. They can’t know the location of Brymar.”

  “How do you know the location of Brymar?” Richard finally posed. The detail had been bothering him for a while now; even Victoria looked at him for an answer. “The map updates from your touch, so I assume you have been there before then?”

  “I have,” he nodded hesitantly. “But I haven’t the time to explain now. We must complete the trip to Skee.”

  Richard nodded but shot a suspicious glance at him. He didn’t like Thrix’s reluctance to answer, but respected the urgency they now faced. “I understand,” he said while standing beside Victoria’s horse. She extended a hand down to him and Richard took it. “Thank you,” he said as she hoisted him on the back of her horse. He held onto her hips. “I’m ready.”

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  *************************************************************

  “They advance,” Max called out as he stared into the distance, his bow readied. He stood beside Adriana on top of one of the flat rooftops at the front of the village with a scatter of Arracian arrows strewn along each one; because of the sheer number of arrows released, each of the Arraci had been forced to tap into their reserves, which each of them stored on the horses. In fact, most of the cargo carried on the horses was food, water, and arrows. “There is movement of some kind nearing us.”

  “They won’t make it very far,” Adriana said while looking at the rest of the Arraci. “There’s too much land for them to cover. It would be suicide for them to attack us when we control the village.”

  Few of the village’s residents had emerged from their homes, but those that did were quickly sequestered back inside. None of them disobeyed, especially once word of Aroden’s presence reached their ears. Just the surprise at hearing that the true king of the Brutean Kingdom was among them was enough to make them comply. There wasn’t much point any more in keeping that fact a secret; considering the recent assassination attempts and the whole day that had just passed, clearly someone already knew Aroden lived, and word would spread quickly.

  The Arraci all waited for the command to release their arrows, Brian guarding the back of the village and Adriana in the front. Elizabeth stood on another rooftop near Adriana’s position in the front of Skee, her brilliant wooden bow aiming a white arrow towards the enemy. Max looked at her in admiration, her posture like that of a statue.

  “Prepare to release,” Adriana said with a raised arm to the Arraci. She pointed towards the distance. “Wait until they are in range!”

  �
��What about the villagers?” Max asked quietly. “They will panic once the sound of battle erupts.”

  “Not under the rule of Aroden,” she said. “We will keep them safe.”

  “Be on the lookout for Victoria and Richard,” Elizabeth called from their side. “They might arrive in the middle of all this.”

  “We’ll see Richard as he approaches,” Max responded. “But surely he wouldn’t approach Skee while a battle rages. I’d hope he’d continue on to Brymar.”

  “But Victoria wouldn’t,” Elizabeth said, “and so neither would Richard.”

  The morning breeze from the North carried the stench of the Fortari overtop Skee. Max wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his heart racing as he thought of the frightened boy he once was when faced with an assassin with burning blue eyes in the markets of Criton. The moment the light left those eyes was one he’d never forget, and now to think that more existed, and that Brian and Adriana encountered one, made him shudder.

  “They’ll be in range soon,” Adriana said to him, and Max pulled back an arrow. But then the enemy stopped advancing to the village and waited just out of range. “Why do they stop?” Adriana asked.

  “Perhaps they know we wait for them,” Max said.

  “No,” Adriana said as she struggled to stare into the distance. “They’ve turned around and are looking at something.”

  “At what?” Max worriedly asked. “What could grab their attention?”

  Elizabeth released her arrow, which soared through the air into the distance. All of them watched as it hurled towards the front lines and struck one of the distant figures, sending it flailing to the ground after a heavy thud. Adriana and Max stared in amazement. The sheer distance of the arrow surpassed even the Arraci’s capabilities. No one said anything until finally Elizabeth broke the moment of silence.

  “I can reach them,” she declared, pulling back another arrow.

  Max shook his head in astonishment. “How did you reach…”

  “I’m not surprised,” Adriana said as she turned her attention back to the oncoming assault. She remembered their time in the caverns, and how William had pierced through the wooden shields of the unsuspecting foes with the help of Elizabeth’s powers. No doubt she wielded similar strength with her own shot, and Adriana could only imagine what Elizabeth was capable of. The enemy started to advance towards Skee. “It seems your shot has caused them to blindly charge at us.”

  “Yes, it does,” Elizabeth said with calm conviction as she released another. “They are now in range for the Arraci and will meet their fate.”

  “Release!” Adriana shouted, and the arrows flew in tandem from the rooftops of Skee. “For the king!”

  The front lines fell simultaneously across the open plains with the shrieks of death. Another volley dropped the second line until only a few remained. By the time the third volley impacted the last of the creatures, only bodies littered the ground and Adriana lowered her bow, ordering the others to do the same. It shocked Max how easy the offensive was halted, and he turned to look at Adriana.

  “Surely there’s more than that,” he said, inspecting the empty landscape dotted with the bodies. “There must be more.”

  “They underestimated us,” she said, “and paid with their lives.”

  “They will all pay with their lives,” Elizabeth quietly added.

  Movement in the distance caught their attention as three horses charged towards them. “Hold!” Adriana shouted as they squinted to see.

  “Is it them?” Max asked as he tried to focus, unsure about a third rider. “Is it Richard and Victoria?”

  “I cannot tell…”

  “It’s them!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she climbed down from the rooftop. “I can see them riding towards us!”

  “But who’s the third?” Adriana mumbled to herself. “I see three, and it appears Richard doesn’t ride his own horse.”

  But the other two had already descended the building before she could finish her thought. They waited at the base of the buildings on the edge of Skee for the horses to reach them; they had to be sure it was them. She spotted Victoria waving their way with her bow in the air and barely noticed Richard’s small hand waving behind her. Their horses galloped across the uneven terrain, and Richard quickly dropped his hand to hold onto Victoria again as they rode over the enemy’s corpses. The tip of the sunrise behind them cast long shadows along the ground, and Elizabeth and the others waited while vigilantly staring into the empty distance.

  The face of his brother finally came into focus, and Max joyously shouted towards Skee’s inn. “Richard is here!” he exclaimed, standing beside Elizabeth. Adriana stayed still, as did the rest of the Arraci. “Richard is safe!”

  A few of the villagers peeked out of windows to witness the commotion, and a few dared to venture onto the streets, though quickly scurried back into their homes. But Adriana wasn’t convinced the battle had finished. Such a weak force seemed unlikely. She turned to see Brian still at the far back of the village, just far enough that she could see his outline and the rest of the Arraci. The lack of activity unnerved her; they’d definitely seen movement at the back. She saw William and Aroden emerge from the inn and rush towards the front of the village, the blind joy and excitement across their faces.

  Something felt wrong.

  Her vision fluctuated once more but without the pain. She heard a voice in her head, the same booming one as before, and decided not to fight it this time.

  “The test is yet to come,” it said to her. “We are watching.”

  “Why?” she said, though silent to the others.

  “For the good of this realm,” it answered. “The enemy swells within the forest. You’ve seen but a taste of their power today.”

  “What do you mean?” But her vision returned to normal, and the voice left. She focused again on the three horses galloping towards them, the commotion around her, and the discomfort that she felt. The world plunged into silence. This didn’t feel right, none of this did.

  As Victoria came within audible reach, they heard her yelling something towards them, but couldn’t make it out. Adriana strained her ears to hear, to bring the words into focus, but noticed Elizabeth turn towards her. Before she could hear the warnings, Adriana could hear her brother shouting loudly for the Arraci at the rear of the village to release their arrows, and she quickly pivoted around. After only a few moments, the back of the village erupted into the pinging of arrows, with Brian shouting for support from the front. The loud battle horns of the enemy vibrated through the air, the same booming low tone they’d heard in Orwell; as Adriana began to run towards the commotion, she finally heard Victoria’s warning cries.

  “They flank from the rear!”

  Chapter XXIV

  “Back to the inn!” Adriana shouted towards Aroden and William.

  They hesitated at first after hearing of Richard’s arrival, but Adriana sternly pointed for them to return; they heeded her warning and rushed back towards the inn. Adriana watched as her brother rapidly released arrows and ran as quickly as possible to join him, even passing William and Aroden along the way. The rest of the Arraci at the front climbed down from the rooftops and charged towards the back of the village, their strides long and arrows readied upon the bowstrings.

  The size of the village made reaching the other side quick, and she practically ran up a wall to reach the rooftop her brother stood on; the rest of the Arraci reinforced the other rooftops around them while a few of them remained on the ground in the front of the buildings, prepared to pull out their blades if the battle demanded it. After seeing the rooftops full and the front lines strong, the remaining Arraci remained on the ground behind the buildings and released volleys overhead the others at the command of Brian.

  Max remained at the front of the village and focused on Richard as the three figures rode towards him; he wasn’t about to take his sight off of his brother, not considering how long it had been since he knew he was safe. The three r
iders reached the perimeter of the village, and Max pulled his brother off of Victoria’s horse to embrace him. But the other two didn’t stop. With Richard off of the horse, Victoria pulled Elizabeth behind her; the two women rode behind Thrix, who’d never slowed his pace, towards the centre of Skee, leaving Max and Richard behind with Richard’s exhausted horse. Richard gently pushed his brother away, giving him an expression of relief before his face hardened with fear.

  “Brother, the back of Skee faces a much larger force of enemies,” he quickly said. “I don’t know if we have the numbers to fend them off.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “The map that Victoria carries, it shows the movements of enemies when Thrix holds it. He uses magic.”

  “Who’s Thrix?” Max asked.

  “He’s the other person you saw travel with us, though I’m not sure who he is. Victoria and I met him on our travels to Skee; he’s a friend of hers.” He paused. “Max, he’s the alchemist from Forelorne.”

  “The alchemist,” Max repeated. “That doesn’t make sense, brother.” He paused, recalling the brief glimpse he managed to catch as Thrix rode by them. “But then again,” he continued to think aloud, “he seemed to look familiar to me, too…but I don’t know why.” Max shook his head. “I must take you back to the inn. Father will want to see you right away.”

  “Is he angry?”

  “Only because he feared you lost, brother,” Max answered. He jumped onto the back of Richard’s horse and pulled Richard up. “We must hurry. A fight still rages on.”

  Adriana saw the two brothers riding towards the inn and returned her focus to the forces in front of them, the arrows pinging from her bowstring and all the other’s. Hundreds of Fortari charged towards them, enough to engulf a small city let alone a tiny village. They wielded their characteristic black armour and weapons and moved quickly, though carelessly, across the open landscape towards Skee with the raging battle horns blaring around them. When the enemy’s front line fell from arrows, another front line formed right behind them, relentlessly jumping over the dead bodies and savagely continuing to charge. After several volleys, it became apparent that arrows alone wouldn’t fend off this attack, not against an enemy with such little regard for life.