The Ancient Ones (The Legacy Trilogy Book 3)

by Michael Foster

  ‘No trouble at all,’ Orrell returned with a charming smile that made Leopold cringe.

  The four of them were soon boarding another of the longboats as it was readied to descend. Jessicah watched the activity happily. She delighted in the excitement, dressed in a fresh white frock chosen for the special occasion.

  Leopold avoided her gaze. He sat soberly, set in his mood, rubbing his thumb against the hilt of his sword, over and over on the same spot to occupy his mind.

  The oarsmen skilfully navigated between the colourful coral reefs and sandy shoals, following a pale blue strip that ran between them. They were last in a string of boats headed to shore. The water was as flat and still as a millpond, and the boat eased itself gently up onto the island with a gentle hiss beside the other craft.

  The beach was a gritty mix of sand and fine shells that crunched beneath the feet. The feeling of solid, immobile ground was wonderful. Even Leopold, despite his foul humour, broke into laughter. Crewmen grinned and stamped their feet while Jessicah already had her shoes in her hands and was scrunching her toes on the shore.

  The Farstride watched over them from her anchorage, looking serene upon the still waters with figures visible throughout the rigging, checking her over in that rare opportunity of being at rest. Equipment had already been pulled apart to the sound of hammering and sawing.

  Samuel, Daneel and a group of soldiers were inspecting the forest’s edge, so Captain Orrell had Leopold and the others scampering up from the beach to follow. An array of noises the likes Leopold had never heard abounded from the trees: birds and insects and the howls of monkeys saturated the air, almost deafening.

  Lady Wind behaved as if this was familiar ground. ‘This way,’ she told them, stepping into the jungle, heading towards one of the narrow, broken towers that jutted up from the canopy far ahead.

  There was an eagerness in her stride and those who followed shared it. They pursued her in single file, pushing aside the wide green leaves and advancing into the jungle one after another. Only a few soldiers remained behind with the crew to watch the boats.

  The jungle was dense in every direction, but Lady Wind led them along a route free of fallen trees and other such obstacles. As the greenery surrounded them, the jungle noises smothered them, sounding from every perceivable direction, incessant and unrelenting. Shapes leapt between the treetops, scampering, shrieking as they took flight.

  Progressing deeper, it became apparent the ground beneath their feet had once been a path, now long overgrown and obscured by years of untempered growth.

  A child’s laughter sounded unexpectedly from ahead and Toby sprang into view, bursting from between umbrella-sized leafage. It was a strange sight, for the whole line of explorers was abruptly halted by the playing of a child, as if he were a tiger appeared to devour them. Only Samuel was not caught unawares—which was, in itself, unsurprising.

  Toby stood mirthfully, laughing at the group before vanishing into the jungle once again, continuing in his original direction. Daneel looked uneasy, for his weapon was half-drawn. He eased it back into place, scowling with his single eye.

  ‘Was it wise to bring a boy to a place like this?’ Leopold asked of the magician in front.

  ‘Emperor Leopold!’ Daneel called from behind with a voice of jest. ‘Don’t berate yourself like that. We all know you have long been a man!’

  Leopold clenched his jaw. ‘I was referring to Toby.’

  ‘No one brought him,’ Lord Samuel replied. ‘He came of his own accord. Who am I to stop him? If he gets eaten by something it’s his own fault. I’d call that a good riddance and then we would no longer have to put up with him.’

  ‘Shouldn’t we send him back?’ Jessicah asked from between the magician and Captain Orrell.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Lady Wind called from the lead. ‘There are no carnivorous animals here or dangers for a boy. The worst he could do is get a splinter or a bruise.’

  ‘Couldn’t he become lost?’ Jessicah asked her in return.

  Lady Wind’s reply was lecturing in tone. ‘No one can get lost while Lord Samuel is with us. He can find us wherever we go. Of that I am sure.’

  And Jessicah realised she was right.

  ‘I have a question, My Lady,’ Daneel called to the Koian woman as they wound along the path. When she glanced back at him he continued. ‘Why do you have islands named after four seasons when it seems, from what I have heard and so-far experienced, that only two seasons exist here? One that is hot and wet, and one that is hot and wetter.’

  ‘Our nation is large, my good man. The other seasons do exist in their appropriate regions. We receive volumes of snow in the highlands and mountains in the west. We have deserts in the east ... Autumn, Spring, all the rest. Names are just names, but all such seasons do exist to the south. Just not here.’

  ‘Oh,’ he said, accepting the matter. Everyone except the magician was already soaked with perspiration. Amidst the trees, it was even worse, for the air was trapped and still. ‘So we can forget about a cool change any time soon.’

  ‘You can,’ the aging woman called back.

  The further they went, the more the path showed itself, until mossy paving stones were fully visible beneath their feet. The trail led to small buildings set amongst a clearing. They were ramshackle and dilapidated, with collapsed roofs and fallen walls. Moss and fungi grew over the remains like fur, staining them green. Smaller trees sprung up from their middle, bowing out as if to look over the walls. It had been many years since anyone set foot here.

  ‘The Eudans came and defiled even our most precious temples,’ Lady Wind noted. ‘They enslaved the priests and raised pigs on our most hallowed ground to spite us. Nothing is sacred to them.’

  They approached the foot of one of the towers they had spied from the ship, its top poking up above the treetops. For some reason, the forest had decided not to crowd in upon this building, although vines had long since snaked up the stonework, squeezing between them and prying them loose.

  The clearing was not altogether vacant: Salu was there, staring up at the tower side. He did not acknowledge their coming, and he was banging on the side of the tower with his stick, perhaps checking to see if the thing would fall before venturing inside, perhaps just enjoying the sound.

  Tell-tale laughter emanated from the trees an instant before Toby bound into view, scampering past the old man and vanishing inside.

  As the landing party came to Salu’s side, the old magician sat down on the tower steps with a weary sigh and began to probe with his tongue at something stuck between his teeth.

  ‘How did you find your way here so fast, old goat?’ Daneel asked him, but Salu was not giving away his secrets and instead worked at cleaning the dirt from under his nails, grunting contentedly.

  The building was only a few storeys high, with rounded floors of equal girth built atop each other. Lady Wind led them inside, giving away nothing in her expression, and they wound their way up the stairs to the topmost level. The roof was gone and the wind and rain had ruined the contents. Shattered ornaments littered the floor. Mounds of rotted tapestries were piled up against one wall. What remained was woven from bamboo, now just heaps of unrecognisable pulp.

  Leopold glanced at the overcast sky, unconcealed by branches. Sweat ran under his shirt. Despite his hopes, the clouds did nothing to bring relief.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Captain Orrell asked, surveying the room. ‘Apparently, no one is here.’

  Lady Wind looked around, searching for some clue amongst the decay. ‘We wait.’

  Orrell leaned out an empty window and called down to his men. ‘Any sign?’

  ‘Another path leads further into the jungle,’ someone hollered back in response. ‘Shall we follow it?’

  Orrell turned to the Koian woman, who shook her head, leaving the captain to relay the same gesture out the window to his man. ‘Stay here. Don’t venture out of sight.’

  ****

  They waited many lo
ng hours at the base of the tower. Captain Orrell was keen to let his men look around, but Lady Wind insisted they stay together and wait patiently.

  ‘The Eudans may come; or worse, we could be mistaken for them. Keep everyone together and with me,’ Lady Wind instructed.

  ‘I thought you said it was safe,’ Leopold reminded her.

  ‘I said it was safe for a boy.’

  Orrell’s men remained alert, but Leopold soon bored and set about wandering the extents of the clearing.

  He stepped up and over the various piles of building stones and rubble. He poked his sword into the trees and looked between their branches. If Captain Orrell had seen him using his father’s weapon in such a way, the man would surely have yanked his ear, but Leopold could see little harm in it. He was careful not to blunt its edge, occasionally hacking at the leaves for boredom’s sake, but avoiding the thicker wood. For that reason, he kept himself towards the back of the clearing, with the tower between himself and the others.

  ‘There’s no need to torture the poor trees,’ Jessicah said, having come up quietly behind him.

  ‘Why is that?’ he asked with annoyance, turning to face her and carefully sliding his sword back into its sheath. She had startled him, and it infuriated him that a woman could so easily sneak up on him. She had probably not even been trying.

  She looked at the ragged fronds and cut stalks. ‘They feel it, you know. They feel it, very slowly, but they do know pain.’

  ‘What would you know of the feelings of trees?’ he asked her suspiciously.

  ‘I’ve always felt at home in nature, away from the walls and rooftops of the cities. Something inside of me gains comfort from places like this, so wonderful and green and vital ... saturated with life.’

  Leopold was not about to agree with her. ‘I think it’s quite awful.’

  She ignored his obvious attempts to offend her. ‘I want to speak to you, Leopold. About me. About my secret.’ She spoke earnestly, her palms clasped gently in front of her pale dress.

  ‘What of it?’ he asked impatiently. All this waiting around did little for his temper.

  ‘I’m not sure what you are thinking, but I want to ask you not to tell anyone about what I did—who I was.’

  ‘By anyone do you mean Captain Orrell?’

  ‘I mean anyone. There are no secrets on that ship, Leopold. Telling one is as good as telling all.’

  ‘I don’t think it is very wise to hide such truths from the captain,’ Leopold stated firmly, standing as tall as possible and using his best Emperor’s voice. He had been honing it upon the sailors and thought it was sounding much improved—very regal and commanding.

  ‘Then if you want to tell him, so be it,’ she responded. ‘David is a kind man. He will understand.’

  Leopold was disappointed. His best attempts to infuriate her always failed dismally. ‘David?’

  ‘The captain.’

  ‘Oh,’ he replied in understanding. He had never even stopped to think the man did have a given name. ‘You heard what he said about Rei. He did not sound so understanding to me. Who could blame him? The woman inside you destroyed the Empire—my Empire—and killed innumerable innocent people: men, women and children.’

  He made a point of mentioning the children, just to wound her even more. She remained calm and level headed, even through that, and it was Leopold who felt his confidence wavering.

  ‘You may be right. I cannot stop you, Leopold, but I implore you to wait. Everyone will discover the truth soon enough. I only hoped it would be later rather than sooner, after we have finished with this voyage.’

  ‘I think sooner,’ he said quite smartly.

  She sighed, but Leopold did not receive any of the squirming he had hoped for. He had mentally rehearsed this conversation many times over the previous weeks, knowing it would come, but it was not nearly as rewarding as he expected.

  ‘There’s no good to be had from this, Leopold. I am not sure what has gotten into you. Perhaps being Emperor has overfilled you with pride. I very much liked the Leopold I first met, but the one that accompanied me on this voyage is little more than a spoilt child.’

  ‘Do you really think it’s wise to be so rude?’ he asked, puffing out his chest. ‘Do you know what would happen if I were simply to open my mouth?’

  She scrutinised him, on the brink of looking riled. Then, as if carried away by the hot air, her anger evaporated and her expression shifted substantially. She adjusted her weight and pulled her shoulders back to stand straighter, matching his upright stance.

  She smiled at him warmly. ‘Oh, Leopold. Don’t think of us as enemies. The captain and I are becoming fast friends, but don’t think I have anything more in mind for him. Of course I have been saving myself for you, dear Leopold. I’ve just been too timid to admit it. Can’t you see how much I care for you?’

  ‘I—I beg your pardon?’ he stammered, not believing his ears. Her sudden change of heart was unexpected, overwhelming.

  She stepped closer to him, nearly toe to toe. ‘If you are nice to me, Leopold, I will be nice to you. Don’t be jealous of the captain. I’m only befriending him to find out more about Samuel. The captain knows many of his secrets, his weaknesses. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To get back at that awful magician?’

  Leopold took a step back with alarm, the leaves resisting his retreat. ‘What are you saying?’ Had she gone mad? Had he misjudged her all along?

  ‘You know what I’m saying, Leopold. We both don’t like that magician telling us what to do. He killed your father, or have you forgotten? We should get back at him for that. He’s done horrible things to me, too.’ She smiled at him demurely.

  ‘You’d really help me against Samuel?’ Looking closer at the woman, he found the obvious staring him back in the face. ‘You’re not Jessicah.’

  ‘Shh,’ she told him gently, as an excuse to put her fingertip to his lips. ‘Clever little devil, aren’t you, my Leopold?’ There was a deliberate hint of sarcasm in her voice.

  ‘How long have you been here?’ he asked suspiciously.

  ‘Just a few moments here and there. Long enough for me to understand what’s going on. Enough for me to start making subtle changes for the better. Jessicah is a brave girl, but when she gets upset she inevitably runs and hides, and that leaves me in control. Each time I stay a little longer. Eventually there will be no Jessicah at all.’

  Leopold thought about calling to the others, perhaps Samuel or Captain Orrell, until he realised this could be the perfect opportunity to get what he wanted all along. ‘What can you do to help me rid the world of Samuel? Neither of us is strong enough to kill him. What can you do that I cannot do alone?’

  Her lips curled into a satisfied smile and Leopold found himself thinking once again how utterly beautiful she was, beyond reason, a goddess sent to earth.

  ‘Oh there is so very much I can do for you that you cannot do alone, dear Leopold.’ Her smug voice was full of connotations. ‘We can set a trap for him,’ she said. ‘We can lead him to danger. He is not a god. He is a man with mortal failings and he loves his dear Jessicah beyond all others—nearly as much as his son. But he is powerful. He has Thann’s power; he has my power! It may take some time for the opportunity of our revenge to arise, but I’m sure it will ... soon enough. Just wait and watch, Leopold. Be patient. The time of Samuel’s comeuppance will arrive, and when it does, act swiftly. Don’t forget, it is him or you, Leopold—a matter of live or die. You are your father’s son. There is magic in you too and eventually Samuel will come for it, as he has for everyone else, or he will send his Truthseekers to do his dirty work for him.’

  Leopold’s eyes filled with apprehension. ‘I want no part of magic. He can have it!’

  ‘Don’t get excited, boy, it is only a trifle. I can see it hidden away and kept out of your reach, but Samuel knows of it. He will claim it for his own without a doubt, and that does not bode well for you. Beware of him when he is weak, when he is desperate. Whe
n the hunger overcomes him, that is when you should fear him most. I’m sure he keeps you nearby as a potential snack, something to sate his appetite when he is feeling drained. He eats souls, Leopold. That is what demons do.’

  Leopold subdued his fear. ‘And would you abandon the captain once you have what you need from him?’ His voice lowered to a whisper as he voiced his true heart’s desire. ‘Would you truly save yourself for me?’

  Something snapped in her expression and it was clearly Jessicah who was looking back at him with disdain. ‘Why would I do that? Well done, Leopold! Now you’ve confirmed it. You really are an ass.’

  With that, she stormed away, leaving Leopold by himself at the jungle’s edge. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should follow her. Shaking his head, he returned to cutting at leaves with his sword. Rei was right. There was no hurry, and she would surely show herself again when the time was right. He was quite looking forward to it.

  ****

  They waited until near dusk, with the sounds of the jungle changing to meet the approaching night. Leopold was hungry. They had few provisions, thinking they would only be ashore a short time.

  Finally, Lady Wind stood and spoke, breaking the monotony with her announcement. ‘They come.’

  Orrell’s men, alerted, scoured the jungle warily with their eyes. Somehow Lady Wind had sensed their arrival long before the figures came filing down the path from the mountain.

  ‘Still your men!’ Lady Wind hissed, for some of Orrell’s soldiers had readied their swords. She clasped her palms together and put her eyes to the ground and waited, as if in respect for those who approached.

  A gesture from Captain Orrell saw his men easing their weapons back into their scabbards, but it seemed they need not have been worried, for it was only young women that stepped into view. They each had the same tinted skin and angled eyes as Lady Wind and they spread themselves in a line, sixteen in total.