Slowly he stood, getting his head above the lip of the ditch and he saw that he was in the middle of a small, empty battlefield. The ground was torn and ripped up with only scars of grass and almost dead plant life littered amongst the mud like the torn skin of a leper. He was thankful he could not see far with the fog lying like a blanket over the scene of despair.
Glowby floated into view and moved towards him from behind a small hillock. Aiden watched him curiously, and the damp forest smell returned followed by the smell of rain on stone. He realized Glowby was worried and that made him sad.
“It’s okay, Glowby,” Aiden said softly, gesturing for his friend to come closer. “I know you didn’t mean for me to be scared. You brought me here for a reason, and I trust you.”
Glowby brightened, then rose up and came closer before circling his shoulders. It was clear Glowby was happy Aiden wasn’t going to yell.
“Now, the question is, where are we and why have you brought us here?” Aiden paused, looking around again with curiosity. The damp forest smell came back. “That must mean I’m curious, which I am. And if I think about the dead too much, I’ll smell that death smell again, I bet.” There was a waft of it before Aiden forced it out of his mind, closing his eyes and holding his breath. When he started to breathe again, he was happy to note it had faded again, replaced by a citrus smell.
That was it, then. Emotions were smells here, wherever this was. Aiden knew he wasn’t in the Anderealm. He’d had enough experience with it by now to recognize that place. He also knew he wasn’t in the normal world, anymore, either. Besides his emotions being smells and the faded colors, there was a strange tingling all around him. It didn’t hurt but felt more like when he laid out on the beaches at Reid during a bright day, except all throughout his body.
Something else occurred to him then. He could see the dead all around him. Aiden paused, thinking. Could he see the dead in the Anderealm? Normally, he couldn’t see anything living there, but he’d never tried to see anything that was no longer alive. There was still quite a lot about the Anderealm he had to learn. Now he had another realm to figure out. Great.
Aiden decided that he wasn’t going to find any answers standing in a ditch, so began climbing out. It was still slippery and difficult to gain traction in the mud, but he was happy to see that no matter what he did, nothing stuck to him and he wasn’t getting dirty. Curiously, as his feet moved it felt normal, but once he lifted his foot the mud seemed to flow back to how it was before and leaving no trace of his passage. It was almost like he was and was not there, which made a strange kind of sense. Briefly, he wondered what would happen if he was underwater, but decided that was an experiment for a later date.
As he moved across the battlefield with his friend, Glowby, he became more and more saddened by all the death surrounding him. It was clear from the various groupings of the dead that one side had fared worse than the other side. Curious, he stepped closer to one group of corpses and inspected one of the fallen.
He had to think of the Welcome Room back in Riften and count off the banners in his head. Finally, he remembered and frowned. “This is a man from the Duchy of Caitrel, Glowby. That’s half a world away.” Glowby bobbed in agreement before floating down towards the man’s face. In the gray and gloom, it had been hard to tell, but once Glowby’s light put some color on the man, he looked sickly and weak.
He checked a few others, and all of them had the same pallor and sunken eyes. It looked similar to starvation, but he’d also heard they were suffering from a plague.
He picked through the various groups of bodies, forcing his mind into a clinical place to avoid the smell of death. He found Banum troops mixed in amongst the Caitrel soldiers who looked to be suffering from the same sickness, but when he finally found a few of the Norpon dead, they did not look the same. They were far more healthy. Filled out and strong, despite being dead. There just weren’t that many of them.
He saw not one living until the sun began to burn off the fog. The slowly clearing mist also brought in some of the scavengers who were intermittently flying in and landing on an opportune pile. Their mostly dark and red colored scales blended in far too well with their chosen food. Aiden tried to keep his eyes off of them as he didn’t want to watch, and for the most part made his way through the battlefield trying to avoid the worst of the scenes. Glowby seemed equally bothered, staying away from the feeding creatures.
As he moved in what he thought was a westerly direction, the fog began to clear enough for him to see an effective, if roughly fortified, camp. There were trenches dug out of the red earth, which became earthen berms covered with sharpened wooden stakes. On top of that were thick walls made from logs that looked like they had withstood more than a few attacks.
Above the camp flew the flags of Caitrel and Banum. Aiden examined what he could see of the fortifications stretching off into the mist, but couldn’t see how far they went due to the lingering mist. To him, they looked formidable enough that he wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with them, but he had no idea if they were well constructed.
It was here that he saw the living for the first time. Soldiers carrying crossbows looked like they were patrolling along the top of the walls. There were tall platforms built every few hundred meters that held others, presumably to see farther out on the battlefield. He couldn’t see beyond the walls yet because they were raised too high, but there was a deep road that led into further into the compound. It curved and bent out of sight, surrounded by log walls as it stretched off into the distance. Even he could tell it was a killing field, imagining the hail of arrows and death to anyone that tried to make their way down that muddy morass.
He was quite happy that no one could see him when he started his journey down it.
The road itself turned out to be a winding, snake-like passage that ran for several hundred meters. There were still the occasional signs of dead attackers been pressed into the mud or simply overlooked by the defenders who had made attempts to keep the road clear.
At the end of the road was a makeshift gate. There were enough gaps and holes that a single person could slip through which Aiden quickly used to gain entrance. The interior of the large camp was, if anything, worse than the battlefield. There were mini-fortified half circled areas just within so if anyone did breach the gate, they would face men protected by more raised berms and walls. Further in he could see any number of dirty tents with men stumbling around or seated in dejected circles by cooking fires.
What shocked Aiden the most, however, were the faintly glowing, pinkish-gray fleshy blobs creatures floating around the camp. He could tell almost immediately that they were here with him in this realm because they were not washed out in the gray-scale that covered everything else. They were vibrantly colorful much like he and Glowby were.
They were also disturbing on a level he’d never felt before. The dark smell of burnt wood washed over him as he took a step back, watching them fearfully as they floated slowly through the air and over the soldiers. They had odd, almost transparent crests that arched along the top of their bodies which floated about three to four meters above the ground, and numerous tentacles that dangled down. What was even more worrisome was that they would occasionally stop and dip one of their bright tentacles directly into a soldier’s head. Shortly afterward, pulses of light would begin to travel up the tentacle and into the things bodies.
The soldiers didn’t seem to notice what was happening to them, but it was clear to Aiden this wasn’t normal. He remembered all of the gaunt faces of the soldiers out on the battlefield and went closer to one of the groups that didn’t have a floating thing around it. First, he glanced into their cooking pot to see if starvation was a factor. In it was food, flat grain and sausage, something Aiden knew was filling but not always tasty. Plenty of it, in fact, and each of the men looked to be eating their fill. There was no shortage of food, so he looked back up at the floaters again, suspicion writ large across his face.
&n
bsp; “So Nadak tried to make a run for it last night,” One of the men said softly, startling Aiden. The men around him had been quiet, though he’d heard voices off in the distance from other camps. All the sounds he had heard had been distant; hushed as if waiting for a storm but it had served to make Aiden forget these were men and not faceless wraiths.
One of the other men answered though he didn’t look up, just staring down at his bowl. “Did he make it?”
The first shook his head. “No. They nailed him to one of the buildings to the west. I was over there this morning and saw him, poor devil. He and five others were there, letting anyone know what a fool thing it is to try to run. Better to die fighting than running, though. At least our families will be paid.”
The other soldiers grunted in response. A man piped up, his voice cracking. “Do you think they’ll attack this morning? Usually, we’d have heard something by now, right?” Aiden looked at him and decided he wasn’t a man yet, still only a teenager. He was as gaunt as the others were but his eyes still had a faint glimmer of hope in them.
The older man shook his head. “Don’t think so. Fog’s already burning off, and they like the cover. It keeps us from pegging them from a distance. They don’t like our catapults. Probably think they’re too good to die from our inferior rocks.”
The younger man nodded, grinning. “Ha, yeah, they sure ran last time. They won’t get through us.”
“Damn well better not.” Another man said angrily. “There’s nothing but farmland twenty miles behind us. The only thing keeping their main forces from getting through is this fort and the Burnspire swamp. Thank the Seven for it. I’d hate to have to be doing maneuvers feeling like this. I can barely walk, much less march around trying to catch those scum.”
“You’ll do what yer told, Jonisy, just like the rest of us,” the first soldier said, scowling at the man. “It’s that or decorates the walls with your corpse. We’ve got to hold here, or everything is going to go in the pot. It doesn't matter if we all got the plague, we have a job to do.”
“Yeah, Sarge, I just wish those Norpon gobs would catch it,” Jonisy said. “None of them ever seem to have it. Even if we do get the upper hand, they just run away. We can never catch them.” The man paused, taking a bite of his food before continuing. “Some of the soldiers are saying it’s black magic.”
The sergeant stood up, taking off his hat and slapping Jonisy with it. “Shut your yap, Jonisy. We don’t need that kind of talk. Everyone’s already enough on edge without your yapping about black juju crap.” The big man glared down at the other until he got a nod and then sat back down. “Now listen, I’m not sure if this is real or not, but I heard some of the officers talking that we may get reinforcements.”
“Yeah, right Sarge,” Jonisy snorted, sneering at the sergeant. “What’s a few hundred sick men going to do to help?”
“Dammit, Jonisy!” The sergeant stood, taking his hat off and making as if to hit the other man but didn’t, causing him to flinch instead. “You’re willing to talk about black magic but don’t believe me when I say we’re going to get reinforcements? I swear by the Seven, I’ll nail you up on a building myself, for stupid.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll shut up.”
“Good, it’s about time. I think your momma gave you too much mouth and not enough brains.” The sergeant settled back down, glaring at Jonisy just in case before picking his bowl back up. “But for real, they were talking about having made a deal with some of the other Duchies. They may come into this on our side, and we’ll see troops sooner than later.”
The young man piped up, grinning his toothy grin again. “That’s good news, right? Who’s coming? Is it Duchy Cerand? I’ve got an aunt that lives down there and she says they’re none too happy with Norpon either. I bet it’s them!”
Before Aiden could hear the answer, Glowby darted in front of him, flashing a bright red warning. Looking around, he realized he hadn’t been keeping an eye on the strange, menacing floaters. Several of them were narrowing in on his position, their long semi-transparent tentacles quickly closing off any escape routes.
Suddenly he felt a searing burn on the side of his head, making him jerk away from the pain and scream. One of the floaters was right on top of him, the tentacle that had brushed him beginning to retract as the thing moved forward to strike again. He realized that while the things floated slowly, their tentacles could move far quicker and he didn’t have a lot of time to look for an escape route.
Rolling away from the floater that was behind him, he quickly jumped to his feet. The only way to go was through the soldier's tent, and he just hoped the back was open. He pushed his way inside, getting unexpected resistance from the tent flap and tripping immediately on some blankets before falling to the floor. Even as he fell, the interior of the tent brightened as tentacles pushed into the tent behind him. He turned, kicking at them but instead of that being effective, his foot burned from the touch.
He screamed and began pushing backward and away from the pain. Thankfully, the rear flap wasn’t secure, and he was able to make his way out of the tent and into the sun. The floater that had been pursuing him was still on the other side of the tent, but others were closing in from the sides. He wasn’t sure why they were after him, but clearly, they were.
He looked frantically for Glowby, hoping he’d have a way out of this and saw him, blinking brightly in a gap between the creatures. Aiden jumped up and ran, pushing himself hard before the creatures could close with him. Just as he reached it, the two closest creatures drew up some of their tentacles and then shot them into his path. With a scream, he leaped and spun, almost making it before feeling a searing burn in one of his thighs as he rolled in the mud. Thankfully, his leg didn’t buckle when he stood on it and began limping away quickly from the tightening circle.
“Glowby, we’ve got to get out of here!”
He watched his friend dart ahead of him, then move towards a large earth-covered building. There were several soldiers stationed outside of the doors and he watched two men, more cleanly dressed than most of the soldiers, exit from one of the doors. They looked like officers, but Aiden brightened when he realized why Glowby was leading him towards this building.
The floating creatures hadn’t been able to go through the canvas of the tent, and he bet that they wouldn’t be able to reach him in the larger building. He needed time to focus, and he had a sick feeling that as slow as these things were, they’d be on top of him before he could escape.
He skidded to a halt in the dirt, reaching for the door to push it open but realized that it barely moved. “Dammit, Glowby, it’s not opening!” He glanced back. The floaters were approaching, and he could see others beginning to converge. Something must be attracting them, but he wasn’t sure what it could be. He looked around frantically for anywhere else he could take refuge but didn’t see anything.
They were getting closer.
“Dammit!” He kicked at the door, trying to break it open. His kick didn’t do much but make it rattle in its frame, but he did see the guard glance back at it curiously. Aiden began to kick frantically, over and over. The Floaters were getting closer, and he didn’t want to imagine what would happen if they surrounded him. The soldiers didn’t feel them, but they burned him. It must be because he was in the same realm as they were.
Suddenly, one of the guards snorted in disgust. “Tali, check the door. Maybe the colonel’s garcat wants to get out?”
The female guard rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t sound big enough to be a garcat. I hope that it’s not one of those char lizards. Those things give me the creeps.” She reached back, opening the door and looking in. Just in time, Aiden pushed past her and entered the dark hallway. He could hear the guard’s started cry as the door flew open as he ran past her. Almost immediately, the hallway brightened as a few probing tentacles reached in after him, but he was already too far for them to reach.
Aiden could only stop and brace himself against his kne
es as he caught his breath. The guard, oblivious of the reaching tentacles, looked angry as she closed the door, cutting off both the tentacles and the light.
Aiden could only sigh in relief. He looked at Glowby and shook his head, watching as his friend flickered in apology. Whatever those creatures were, he was sure they were causing this plague. Wonderful, Aiden thought, yet more mysteries to solve.
Chapter 8
Aiden woke slowly, feeling the soft pillow and luxuriating in the blanket covering him. For a moment, he didn’t remember his time on that distant battlefield or even the wagon that he’d stopped in the streets of Terek, but gradually the memories began to creep back in on his mind. None of them were alarming but rather came across as distant, subdued memories.
He opened his eyes and looked around, realizing he was in the school infirmary. He remembered the barrels arching up and towards him, and he even remembered the feeling of an impact, but it must have been glancing because his head didn’t ache and he felt fine. Sitting up, he watched as Nurse Bandari begin to walk past and then stop, looking at him with wide-open eyes.
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4 Page 69
