The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3

by Tim McFarlane

  Let’s assume things haven’t gotten that scary yet.

  I removed Doc’s gauntlet and charged a Dispel in my hands. I hovered my hand over the wound and launched the Dispel. Doc groaned loudly and thrashed violently.

  “What did you do?” Vincent asked, struggling to restrain Doc.

  “A Dispel to remove the corruption,” I answered, examining the wound again. The waves of corrupted energy still radiated outwards. I looked up to Doc. “How long ago were you bitten?”

  “Near...the beginning,” he answered, gritting his teeth.

  It’s too late for him, Cathy said.

  “Lie him down,” I said.

  The guards brought him to a vacant tent to lie him down on a bedroll. Lady Sandra stayed outside to update the returning Ser Wilson on the situation. I didn’t like this one bit. I’ve never been a great healer and Doc was going to need a Master or a miracle to survive.

  “Can you do anything for him?” Bill asked concerned.

  “I hope so,” I answered truthfully. “I need to check my book though. I may need you guys to gather a few items for me.”

  “Whatever it takes,” Vincent said.

  Doc was still sweating profusely and he started to ramble about stuff that didn’t make sense. I pulled the ritual book from my bag and flipped through it. I had studied this book many times and was doubtful that I would find a spell or ritual that would help him. I had almost memorised all the spell names.

  I closed the book and looked up at the guards as an idea formed in my head. “Anybody know what Vlas looks like?” They looked at each other and shook their heads. “It’s small, has two sharp looking leaves and grows in patches.”

  “I saw some on the way here,” Ronnie said.

  “Bring me one as fast as you can,” I said.

  Ronnie ran out of the tent and Lady Sandra poked her head in. “How long until we can leave?” she asked.

  Some of the guards stiffened and I turned to Lady Sandra before anyone else could. “We need to figure out what is happening to him so he can heal. You might as well get comfortable.”

  She looked over the guards and nodded slowly. “Keep me updated. Get some rest, everybody.”

  She left the tent and Bill nodded to the group. “That’s the best we can hope for. Grab a tent and catch a couple of winks of sleep.”

  All the guards but Vincent stood up and left the tent. “I’m going to stay a couple more minutes,” he told Bill. When everyone was gone, he turned to me. “What are the chances Pete is going to make it?”

  “Slim,” I answered. “This is...different...than anything I have dealt with.”

  Vincent nodded slowly and looked over Doc. “Do what you can.”

  “Of course,” I replied, picking up Doc’s arm and healing the wound.

  “Can’t find...sister, where...don’t forget the mutton,” Doc said feverishly.

  It’s attacking his brain, Cathy said. He doesn’t have long.

  Then let’s hope the Vlas comes here quickly. The least we can do is put him into a coma so he doesn’t have to suffer.

  A mercy killing is the better idea, Cathy said. But I can see how that would be hard to ask of this group.

  Vincent laughed once, a dry humourless laugh. “I’m surprised Lady Middleton didn’t just make us mercy kill him so we can move on.”

  “What’s the deal with her?” I asked quietly. “She seems so...”

  “Distant?” Vincent finished, a little anger slipping into his tone. “Yeah, you could say that. I know Bill said to let her say it to you but we’ll all be dead before that happens.” He took a deep breath. “During the assault on Thurlborn Peak, Lord Middleton and Lady Sandra were the ones that attacked Davenport in the castle. We were fighting through the city when we heard the screaming. Good Lord, the screaming,” he grabbed his head and shook it. “She won the fight but came back...like that. Even Ser Wilson couldn’t talk to her. When Davenport escaped...she snapped. She gathered a group of us together and we began this death march across Kalenden. She won’t stop. Not until she or Davenport dies. We are all just in her way. She won’t care that she’ll lead us to our deaths. Look at Pete.”

  “If Davenport thinks he’s found shelter in Ghanlar, he’s wrong,” I explained. “We’ll go pick him up from the Evenawks and you’ll be able to go home. Until then, we’ll watch out for each other and make sure Doc didn’t die in vain.”

  “I hope you are right, Mage,” Vincent said.

  “What was she like before?” I asked.

  “Fierce, but caring,” he answered, relaxing a bit. “When she’d spar with me, she fought like she was possessed but was always quick with an apology if she hurt you. This one time, she put me on my back in two seconds.” He laughed once. “Just zip and boom, there I was with a bruised tailbone. I’ve never seen anyone move so quickly before. She spent the next two days checking up on me to make sure I wasn’t permanently hurt. Now...”

  I nodded slowly as Ronnie entered the tent. He rushed over and handed me the small Vlas plant. “I’m not too late, am I?” he asked.

  “Not at all,” I responded, taking the plant. “The orders are to take a nap while Doc recovers. Take Vincent with you.” I turned to Vincent. “I’ll take good care of Doc. You need to lie down; there is nothing more you can do for him now.”

  Vincent nodded slowly and turned to Doc. “Keep fighting, Pete.”

  Ronnie led Vincent out of the tent and I turned the Vlas plant in my hand. I haven’t held this plant since I failed to remove Cathy from the tree of my subconscious.

  Now’s not the time for a trip down memory lane, Cathy said.

  I bunched up the plant and grabbed Doc’s water flask from his side. I put the plant into the flask and closed the lid. Placing the flask between my hands, I transferred power into it to heat it up, brewing the mixture like tea. I cooled it back down again and brought it up to Doc’s mouth. He was already pretty weak and it didn’t take a lot before he slipped into a coma. He wouldn’t survive the hour, but he wouldn’t suffer either.

  A mercy killing that won’t affect the crew, Cathy said thoughtfully. Well done.

  They will still be saddened. But at least they will be able to move on and give him a small funeral pyre.

  And Grumpy Sandra won’t become impatient, Cathy said.

  We should steer clear of her. If she has a death wish, we might need a getaway.

  Agreed, Cathy said. I wonder what really happened. Something doesn’t add up.

  I don’t think we’ll ever get to know.

  *****

  When the guardsmen returned a couple of hours later, I explained to them that Doc had slipped into a coma and died in his sleep. I apologised and told them I made sure he didn’t suffer. They thanked me and we put together a small funeral pyre for him. I lit the torch with my magical fire and handed it to Vincent to say the final words.

  During the ceremony, Lady Sandra stared into the fire with saddened eyes. It was probably the second pyre she watched over in a short time. My hope was that this would be a small wake up call to watch out for her men more carefully, but as soon as the pyre was done, her face hardened and we were on the move again.

  As we passed by the middle of the Archanion Field, I looked in the direction the Tower once stood. The distortion was still plainly visible in the air, but the area around had started to die and turn dark. This corruption would slowly spread outward and consume the Archanion Field.

  Even banished, the Tower’s influence still stained the land.

  Chapter 4

  By nightfall we had arrived at the mountain path to Ghanlar Plateau. Ronnie identified Davenport’s tracks heading up the path and I suggested that we set up camp at the base of the mountain and wait for Davenport. He only had three options: get caught by Evenawks, hide in the forests of the plateau or come back down the mountain. With us at the base, we would watch the path tonight, check with the Evenawks in the morning and then have them fly over the forests looking for him.
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  The guards were supportive of my idea and even Ser Wilson nodded his approval in his own gruff way. Lady Sandra reluctantly agreed and assisted in setting up a small camp. The look in her eye suggested that she felt that stopping for Doc’s funeral had prevented them from catching Davenport before he made it up the mountain, but she had wisely kept her mouth shut.

  But if she did, the guards would have torn her apart and we could have gone home, Cathy said.

  Don’t tell me you miss the forest.

  Not at all, Cathy chuckled. I’m starting to not trust her. If I had a choice of living in the boring forest and dying pointlessly on a rock...call me a coward because I’m taking the forest.

  Perhaps after we set them up with the Evenawks, we can be relieved from duty. Let them wander Ghanlar for a while.

  It’s worth considering, Cathy said.

  While the guards set up the camp and started dinner, I assigned myself an easy job. I was looking for a stick. It would be for a spell I learned from my book that would alert us to anybody that walked over it. With Davenport being able to use magic, he could easily cast an Illusion spell over us and sneak by.

  If he hasn’t already, Cathy added.

  The Sentry Stick, as the spell is called, emits such a weak amount of energy that Davenport wouldn’t be able to pick it up on a mental sweep of the area; not with us close by. The stick would snap loudly and I would be able to Dispel Davenport’s Illusion for the guards.

  I found a decent stick for my task under a weak looking tree. It was 30-40 centimetres long and extremely dry. The drier the stick, the better the sound I found. I enchanted it with the simple Spiritual spell, Amplify, and brought it back to the path’s entrance. Placing it on the ground in the centre of the path, I backed up quickly, the power flowing into my hand. I stopped and launched the Proximity spell at the stick, hitting it dead on. If someone entered the Proximity spell’s range, the ripple of magic through the Spirit Plane would trigger the Amplifying spell, snapping the stick loudly.

  I headed back to the camp and caught the confused eye of some of the guardsmen. I explained to them what I had done and they nodded, impressed.

  “Living out in the forest teaches you a couple of tricks,” I said, settling in next to the fire. “Back at my house, I have a couple set up to burst into fire if the stick snaps. Helps keep some of the really stubborn predators away.”

  “Could you do that here?” Jeff asked, passing me a bowl of some sort of soup.

  “Not without Magmunese,” I answered, starting to eat. “It works as the igniting agent. Sticks are too frail to enchant them with anything other than simple spells and if you get something too thick, the stick won’t break when triggered. It’s a subtle art.”

  “So there are some good qualities of magic after all?” Bill asked. A small smirk stretched across his face. “You are not all power hungry mongrels.”

  “Oh, we still are,” I smiled, getting a chuckle out of the group. “How could you not? Through pure thought and will, I can create something to help or hurt another person. Tell me, what would you do if you could do anything?”

  “Not try to take over everything I see for a start,” Trevor chuckled.

  “No?” I asked, amused. “You are all men of the sword, sworn to protect the city. If you could just reach out and stop a thief by sending a chunk of ice into his heart, why wouldn’t you? What if one of the leaders of a town was abusing and killing civilians? What stops you from walking in and killing him with your power? What if the king of Balendar was a tyrant? Free Balendar by marching on the Thurlborn Peak. Where does it end? As long as you think you are doing right for the world, why not use your power?”

  I looked around at the thoughtful faces of the guardsmen. Lady Sandra and Ser Wilson had joined the group to hear what I had to say.

  “What stops you from using your power?” Ronnie asked.

  An interesting question, Cathy said thoughtfully.

  “Duty,” I answered, raising a few eyebrows amongst the group. “It is not a Mage’s duty to lead, but to help, regardless of personal opinions on current affairs. We should be healers, advisors or protectors, not warriors or tyrants. People are so afraid of magic, but they shouldn’t be. Magic isn’t the problem. Some people just can’t handle the responsibility.”

  “Magic killed my father,” Lady Sandra said, crossing her arms. The guardsmen went deathly silent at the mention of her father. “You can try and defend it all you want, but the fact still remains. If Davenport didn’t have magic, my father would still be alive.”

  She turned around and left towards her section of the camp. Ser Wilson started walking backwards to follow her. “I’ve fought a Mage before,” he said. “I wasn’t hiding behind a rock to protect myself from his fists.”

  “Don’t blame the sword because the soldier can’t handle it,” I said.

  He smiled slightly after a moment. “Well said.”

  He turned away and I motioned to the guardsmen as I finished my cold soup. “Grab some sleep. I’ll take first watch.”

  “You sure?” Bill asked.

  “I’m the only one here that has had a decent night’s sleep recently,” I answered. “I’ll be fine, if you trust me.”

  “We’re men of duty ourselves,” Bill said. “If what we heard of magic is true, you could have killed us a hundred times by now, but instead you lived up to your word and even tried to help Doc. I know a good man when I see one.”

  The guardsmen nodded their approvals and I stood up. “Thanks,” I said.

  The guardsmen started preparing their area around the fire and I headed off towards the edge of the camp facing the Archanion Field. We were far enough away from the distortion that the corruption shouldn’t have affected the animals here, but I didn’t want to risk it. The foxes had been surprising enough. If an army of corrupted field mice were descending on our position, I wanted to sense them as soon as possible.

  Field mice, really? Cathy asked.

  Vicious little things on the best of days.

  We should probably protect ourselves in case the flowers come alive too, Cathy teased. A bunch of poesies could be deadly.

  Oh, be serious.

  I am serious, Cathy said. There’s nothing to worry about. Field mice have always been corrupt. Disease carrying, little freaks.

  I chuckled softly and looked out over the dark field. In my scanning mind, the only life forms were small insects. Not exactly an army of evil, but an annoying one nevertheless.

  The peaceful evening passed by slowly and I thought about how easy the trip had been. The group had made it to the base of Ghanlar in a day and tomorrow we would have the support of the Evenawks for our search.

  The thought of seeing some old friends was also exciting. I had been so busy with my forest duties that I had never been to visit since they defeated the Mages. Warlord Narrilok and Chieftain Harkis were going to give me an earful. I smiled at the thought.

  I felt a life form moving towards me from behind and turned to see the shape of Lady Sandra approaching. “You’ve been relieved,” she whispered, not looking at me.

  I stood up and faced her. “We should talk about your father,” I whispered.

  “There is nothing to talk about,” she whispered in a deadpanned tone. She sat on the ground and stared out over the field. The conversation was over.

  I shook my head and headed for the fire. It was hard to be angry at her for her attitude. We all grieve differently for our lost loved ones.

  Yes, but it seems like she isn’t even trying to move on, Cathy said.

  It would depend on how close she was to her father. And what happened in that castle.

  I set up my bag as a pillow and lay down next to the fire. Pushing a little power through my hands, I helped the dying fire grow stronger. There was a chill in the night and I covered my skin in my extra clothes from my pack.

  I looked at the shape of Lady Sandra before closing my eyes.

  *****

  The sun
looked painted in the sky as gentle breezes made the leaves on the trees sing their light tune. The clearing was a peaceful sanctuary from the world outside the forest. Only a lone path trailed off towards the small town on the hill. A rabbit darted out from...

  I grabbed my head and shook it, snapping the spell the dream had on my mind. I have developed the skill of turning dreams lucid due to the erratic nature of them. It was mostly caused by Cathy, but when I looked around the colourful dream world again, I had no idea what to say.

  On the rare nights I dreamt, it was either a ‘normal’ weird dream or one of Cathy’s old memories. We had learnt a long time ago that Cathy doesn’t actually dream. Her subconscious transfer memories into mine and my subconscious will build them as dreams. Some of them have been tame, but some have been pure nightmares. Turning the dream lucid and finding each other was our best option.

  I scanned the clearing again. The rabbit winked at me before darting away as a girl came running along the path in my direction. She was between 16 and 18 cycles old and had long blonde hair, a tattered dress and a look of worry on her face.

  “Sir, I need your help,” she said in a panicked tone.

  She was cute, but she wasn’t what I was searching for. Cathy always seems to turn up looking the same; if she is in human form.

  “Sir, are you listening to me?” the girl asked. “My father is in danger. You need to save him.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, in a minute,” I said dismissively, wandering around the clearing.

  I noticed a black cat chasing a butterfly. When it saw me, it stopped and recognition shot into its eyes. “Andy?” Cathy asked. “What the Void is happening? Why do I want to catch this butterfly?”

  “Because you are a cat,” I answered, walking over and scooping her up.

  “Hey, hey, put me down or I will claw you something fierce,” she complained.

  I placed her on a nearby log and she started to lick her paw. “I just got myself groomed too,” she whined, rubbing her paw behind her eyes.

  “Sir, we have to hurry,” the blonde girl said, startling me.