by Dan Decker
It was embarrassing, but he was going to have to call for help. That was something he’d never done before during the heat of the battle. He opened his mouth to call out but the words were caught in his throat as he thought about his son lying in the guest bedroom of his home with a wound that he’d taken at the hand of Adar.
No! He thought. This had all been for Molach. If Helam failed here, his son wouldn’t have his second chance and the people of Rarbon wouldn’t be ready when the Hunwei came. I’ve planned this day for too long. It wasn’t easy to explain what it was that came over him, but it was akin to how he’d felt after he’d lost the tournament to Adar.
Helam had decided as Adar pranced around the tournament grounds, leaving Helam face down in the dirt, that no matter what it took, he wouldn’t let their fate rest in the hand of such a smug idiot. Abel was little better.
It was at that moment, as he’d watched Adar raise his hands to the roar of the crowd, that any doubt he might have had about his plans to remove the Rahids from power and enter the Portal himself had evaporated.
Growling, Helam met the next attack of the Redd Guard with a speed that surprised him. Somewhere in the rational back of his mind, he knew that he wouldn’t hold out for long. A brief look of confusion crossed the face of the guard as he blocked another stroke with ease.
Helam lunged but the guard met it and brought one of his own, forcing Helam to take a step backwards. Something got in the way of his foot and he tripped, falling until he landed on a warm body.
Bleeding Melyah, he thought, rolling to his side and hoping it had escaped the attention of his men. If anybody saw that, some may begin to call for my resignation. He got to his feet as quick as he could but by that time, the battle was over. His Redd Guard had been the last one standing and some of his men had taken advantage of Helam’s fall to overtake the man.
Helam walked over to his fallen foe where he lay on the ground. His eyes were open, his face was wrinkled in pain, and his red leather was covered in blood from where it leaked out of his chest. As Helam stepped over the man on his way to the Portal, he hoped that his men thought his cheeks were flush from the fight and not the embarrassment of having others save him.
It occurred to him as he crossed the floor that it had been sometime since he’d heard the sound of fighting. Had they won the day but watched while Helam had continued his fight? It was enough to make a man feel foolish, but hadn’t he been on the verge of calling for help anyway?
His mind spun and he began to make plans for what he would need to do next to restore himself in front of his men but he pushed those thoughts away as he approached the Portal. He’d sacrificed much to be here. Now was the moment of truth.
He had long believed that the tradition a man had to have the blood of a Rahid to access the Portal was false.
Helam shivered with anticipation as he raised his hands and placed them to the doors of the Rarbon Portal.
Chapter 26
Adar was grateful that the music from the ballroom covered the noise of their movement as he and his men rushed down the stairs but it wasn’t long before they left it behind. When it faded to a distant echo several flights down, he called a halt. After the confusion of their run, they all needed a few moments to adjust to the quiet. He worried that if he continued as they were that they wouldn’t be as sensitive to making noise.
He surveyed his men and was surprised to see Hendrick among the group in the back. Adar didn’t remember Hendrick among the men when they’d left the southern tower but he had been in a hurry. Their eyes met and despite everything they’d been through over the course of the last hour, the man still looked at Adar with a frown. Adar gave Hendrick a grim smile and received a deeper frown in return.
Adar gritted his teeth. Hendrick’s opinion would change once he saw that Adar had Rarbon’s best interest at heart. All it took was time and effort to win most people over. He wasn’t one that felt the need to be liked but for him to accomplish his goals he at least needed to be respected.
The rest of his men were more or less alert. Some looked eager while others were more reserved. Adar took a moment to calm his own nerves by catching his breath and clearing his mind of anger. Before they plunged into the madness that waited for them, he wanted to make sure they were as prepared as they could be. Death and blood waited below. And while he wasn’t eager to join the melee, he didn’t want to give Helam any more of a head start than he already had.
He inhaled and let his breath out slowly. While he was tempted to rush on, in his experience it was better to take the time to get his bearings. That was particularly true if he was feeling worked up. He straightened his neck and twisted it to either side.
He was feeling much better by the time he exhaled again. Whatever they found could be dealt with. All he had to do was keep his wits about him and his anger at bay. He moved forward while making a signal to his men that they were moving out.
When they drew close to the Portal, he could make out the clank of swords and the cry of wounded and dying men. He increased his speed, hoping that they wouldn’t arrive too late. The Redd Guard were said to be devious warriors but he’d never seen them in action or knew of anybody else that had either. He hoped the stories about them were true as he descended the stairs two at a time.
The sounds of the battle were dying down by the time they reached the Portal so Adar took care to slow and catch his breath because he was feeling a little winded from their rush. He didn’t want to be gasping while trying to get an idea about what was going on. Once he could breathe without panting, he squatted and peeked his head around the corner and into the room.
The smell was the first thing that hit him. The stench of blood and sweat hung over the room like a pungent cloud. His eyes went right to the Portal doors where Helam stood with his hands outstretched.
Helam quivered and his face was covered with excitement as it glistened with perspiration. Adar was surprised to see that Helam was bleeding in several places.
This was surprising because Adar had heard that Helam had begun letting his men carry the brunt of the fighting for him. It was hard to fault him for that. He was getting older and what was the point of keeping bodyguards if he didn’t use them?
Tymy was lying at the bottom of a staircase with a broken neck and Adar didn’t see any of Helam’s other personal guards.
Either Helam hadn’t been able to trust them or he’d sent them on other missions. It was probably the latter. A bodyguard that couldn’t keep secrets wasn’t much use. Adar thought about his father and hoped that one of his messengers had been able to get through. Tymy wasn’t the only one of Helam’s men that would make a decent assassin.
A line of soldiers had formed a half circle around the entranceway and while they held their bloody swords as if they were ready for battle they were all looking in Helam’s direction, their curiosity overcoming their orders to keep watch.
There were a few wounded Paroke soldiers but every last Redd Guard was dead. Adar estimated that there were three dead men from Paroke for every two of the Redd Guard, but told himself that might have just been wishful thinking. Helam had won by overwhelming force, plain and simple. He might have tried to poison the Redd Guard as well but Adar wasn’t surprised to see that it hadn’t worked. As saddened as he was by their deaths, he was glad there were some that couldn’t be so easily fooled.
It was a pity the Redd Guard didn’t guard the palace as well. This evening would have been very different if Adar had arrived to find the palace guard still intact.
Adar had always treated the Redd Guard with reverence and it was difficult as he scanned the room to see their corpses. His wanderings as a boy in the palace had sent him high into the towers and across the connecting sky bridges and deep into the bowels of the catacombs, but the place that he’d always returned to had been the Rarbon Portal and the curious men that guarded it.
When he was younger, the guards had been tolerant of his frequent visits. Even as a child
, they’d never spoken a word in his presence. As a kid, he had heard rumors that their tongues had been cut out but as an adult, he still didn’t know what to believe.
He’d been greeted with a few smiles when he was younger but that had changed with every passing year. The men of the Redd Guard began to scowl and show hostility, especially if his last visit had been too recent. This hadn’t been surprising to Adar because he’d long since learned that they were there to keep him out. At least until he’d become Ghar. It was natural that there would be some tension between them and him.
His eyes narrowed when he focused on a smaller Redd Guard body. The Fox was dead as well. Since Adar never been able to learn their names he’d come up with his own. He wasn’t sure what it was but there was something about the short scarred man that had made young Adar think of the animal. Perhaps it had been the smile but it could also have been the glimmer in the Fox’s eye. It was as if he was keeping an important secret that Adar would never learn.
The Fox had been there on that first day when Adar had ventured into the room of his own accord. The Fox had been younger with fewer scars when he had squatted down and beckoned Adar over with a toothy smile. It wasn’t until Adar was much older that he realized how rare a smile like that was for somebody from the Redd Guard.
He’d forgotten about that smile and hated seeing the contrasting blank gaze of the Fox as he now lay in his own gore. Blood dripped out of multiple wounds in opposing places. Adar couldn’t say for sure but it looked as though the Fox had been stabbed by more than one person at the same time. Adar had always imagined that the Fox would be a skilled fighter; at least it had taken a group to bring him down.
Adar’s eyes settled on the traitors and he gripped his sword and motioned for his men to follow as he took a step into the room. He was careful where he walked to avoid treading in blood. His arrival hadn’t yet caught the attention of anybody in the room but that changed when he stepped out and made eye contact with Elaire. She looked away, he hoped that meant she did not intend to alert the others to his presence.
She was bound with a thin rope and had guards on either side of her. Adar had never spoken to the gray haired woman but she was well regarded and liked by the people his father invited to his gatherings. Nelion had named her Kopal but that was a far smaller problem than the one her husband currently posed.
The Paroke soldiers still had their eyes on Helam but Adar didn’t hesitate as he raised his blade and took off one of their heads. Perhaps if the men hadn’t been aiding a rogue general to overthrow their government, Adar would have had more of a sense of fair play or regret at the death, but if a man signed up to do something like this, he had to be prepared to face the consequences. Adar was able to kill one more in a similar fashion before the others started to turn around. By that time, Adar’s men had filled in the space behind him and had followed his lead in beginning the work of death. A man screamed out, but Adar didn’t see whom. Chaos erupted as Helam’s men realized what was going on. In many cases, it was too late and they were cut down by the Napael soldiers before they could raise their swords to their own defense.
Helam was oblivious until the doors of the Portal began to open and he had to step aside to make way. His eyes locked onto Adar and he opened his mouth and yelled out a command. It sounded like Helam was calling his men to him, but Adar was unable to tell. It didn’t do any good. None of them heeded Helam’s call.
Adar was so focused on Helam that it took him a moment to realize that the Portal was opening. That was something that was only supposed to happen for a Rahid, yet there was Helam standing before the doors as they moved away from the wall.
The small shock washed over Adar but he pushed it from his mind as he broke through the gap he had created in the ring of men and rushed forward. His other soldiers were too busy to help out, so Adar passed by without a word to his men.
Helam faced the opening Portal doors, unperturbed by the fighting. He either didn’t care that Adar was coming his way or he was too curious to know what hid behind the Portal.
Prior to finding the hidden entrances throughout the Palace, Adar had heard that the technology of their ancients had been advanced. The first time that he’d discovered one of the secret doors and witnessed it opening of its own accord, he’d felt like he was observing something magical.
Now Adar felt a beat of impatience as he watched the doors open. Either the heat of the battle was making things slow down or the Portal doors were taking their time. It was impossible for him to tell which. Even though Helam’s actions were far from legitimate, Adar had spent many hours wondering what he would find behind those doors and he couldn’t wait to see what was on the other side.
He had to tear his eyes away before he could get a look because several Paroke soldiers blocked his path with swords at the ready. He could read the fleeting determination on the face of the one to the left when their eyes met. Adar charged without thinking when the soldier swallowed. He swung his sword at the one on the right while he moved in the direction of the nervous soldier and caused them to part. The nervous soldier moved back while the other met Adar’s attack.
Adar was surprised that it had worked but didn’t dwell on it. If he’d been wrong about the nervous soldier, he could have taken a sword to the gut. He took advantage of the confusion to take another swing at the soldier that had met his attack. The man managed to block a blow that would have cut him across the belly.
When Adar danced around his opponent, he saw that the nervous soldier was now fighting somebody else. He had to force himself to keep moving when he saw that it was Nelion. She’d managed to scrounge up a sword and her face was pulled back in a scream as she attacked.
He should have sent her away when he had the chance. She was in no condition for battle. This was no place for a person who had been through the things she’d experienced in the last few hours.
Shaking his head while throwing her a disappointed look that she didn’t see, he focused on his opponent and managed to slash the soldier’s abdomen, it didn’t go deep but it did begin to bleed. He followed it with a second that sliced into the man’s arm. The soldier had a look of concentration on his face that Adar would have found amusing in a different situation if his blood wouldn’t have been boiling. He recognized that the man knew how to fight, but was inexperienced and struggling to keep up. Adar continued his attack and with each new stroke managed to bloody the man a bit more. The man was just good enough to keep the killing strokes at bay but it wouldn’t matter in the end because he was getting tired and starting to lose blood.
Adar caught sight of Helam when his opponent dodged a blow. The doors had finished opening and Helam was staring into them.
If Helam could open the doors did that mean he would he be able to harness the weapons of the portal as well?
Adar didn’t want to find out. He’d already taken too long, given his opponent’s lack of skill; the fight should have been over by now. He shook his head to clear his mind of weariness and increased the speed of his attack. His opponent took another cut on the arm. One to the chest. One to his hand.
Adar growled and took advantage of the soldier’s distraction when he yelped over the wounded hand to aim a heavy blow for his chest. His opponent dropped his sword and put up his hands. “I surrender.”
It was already too late. In a normal situation, Adar might have stayed his hand or at least softened or moved the blow to a less vital area, but the Paroke soldier had betrayed everything that he’d sworn to uphold and Adar had no way of knowing if the man would keep his word if Adar showed mercy. The moment Adar turned his back, he would have expected a dagger to pierce it. He didn’t have time to worry about that sort of thing so he didn’t try to stop his stroke as he took the man in the right breast.
Surprise registered on the soldier’s face but Adar was already wrenching his sword out of the man. A little voice in the back of Adar’s mind said he would regret not giving the man a chance, but as his opponent fel
l, he turned his attention to Helam and the thought fled. There would be time enough to deal with that later.
Helam still stood at the front of the Portal, his face unsure.
The battle had quieted somewhat and Adar looked around for Nelion, intending to help her if he could but she had dispatched the man she had been fighting and was gone. His quick survey of the room revealed that Elaire had disappeared as well. There hadn’t been time when the fight had begun for Adar to explain to his men that he wanted to keep Elaire in custody but that was the least of his problems right now.
He frowned. Had Nelion gone after Elaire? He’d send somebody after them once he sorted out Helam. Nelion might be a skilled fighter but Elaire was said to be as slippery as an oiled snake. He wasn’t sure who would need the protection, but the result of a confrontation between those two wouldn’t be good.
In the time that it took Adar to close the distance, Helam hadn’t moved. He continued to look into the Portal as if all the fighting in the room didn’t matter. Curiosity got the best of Adar but he kept his sword between Helam and himself as he looked over Helam’s shoulder.
The room on the other side of the Portal doors was almost dark and he couldn’t see the end. It was filled with metal shelves that held long black boxes. Small lights emanated from the front of the boxes and gave the room an eerie glow. A figure knelt in between one of the rows. Adar couldn’t see it clearly at first and thought it was a statue until it moved.
The movement caught him off guard and he froze. The reason for Helam’s hesitation was becoming clear. The proportions seemed wrong for it to be human. Was the hidden figure a metalman? They were supposed to have all been destroyed. The figure was doing something to one of the boxes; it appeared to be holding a tool as it peered down at the box.
The battle behind him had quieted enough that Adar could hear a humming sound coming from the room. He couldn’t say for certain but it seemed to be coming from the black boxes. Did they always make that sound or was it only when the Portal doors were open?
