The Roots of Wrath

by B. T. Narro

  “Nox’s blade.”

  I could barely see straight as I looked down to investigate the damage. I counted seven arrows stuck in my legs. I felt one in the back of my shoulder and at least two more in my ass. I must’ve tucked my arms in front of me because they were clear.

  “Make sure Souriff and Failina don’t go after them,” I groaned out.

  “They’re not,” Reuben said after a quick glance. “I think it’s over.”

  “It is,” Michael said as he walked up to us, out of breath. “Good god, Jon.”

  “Get these arrows out of me, will you?”

  “Hold on. Ass first or last?”

  “First!” I moaned.

  “All right, but you’re going to owe me for this.”

  Michael and Reuben crouched and painstakingly pulled out each shaft one by one. I could barely think through the pain, but I did notice that there were many bodies around me, all draped with the black tabards of Rohaer. A few still squirmed as they held onto life, but our soldiers were walking around and putting a swift end to that.

  I began to heal my injuries before Michael and Reuben were finished pulling out all the arrows. Hadley came around and let out an audible gasp as she met my gaze. She rushed over to me and went to her knees.

  “I’m all right,” I said, but then I hissed as she put her hand on my shoulder.

  “Oh, sorry!” She looked behind me and grimaced at the arrow near her fingertips.

  “At least we won, thanks to your stones,” I said.

  Reuben spoke. “I’m incredulous that we did. Flawlessly, as well.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think any of us expected it to go that well,” Michael agreed. “It’s too bad we didn’t get to Valinox before they carried them off.”

  “He might be dead already,” Reuben said. “He was falling fast before I lost sight of him.”

  I heard footsteps coming up behind me, and then Souriff’s voice, “He’s still alive. They got away with him.”

  I painfully craned my neck to see Airinold and Failina approaching as well. They smiled at each other as Failina touched Airinold’s arm. I could see Souriff watching the same thing and letting out a breath of annoyance. Then Airinold put his arm around Failina and pulled her in for a kiss, surprising her for a moment before she became supple in his hold and kissed him back with a caress to his cheek. Souriff looked away, as did I.

  “We’re going to have a lot more stones after this,” Hadley said as she surveyed the many bodies in our wake. “I don’t believe they’re going to try to get past us on the road again.”

  At the time of the chase, it didn’t seem like we had covered a long distance, but there looked to be about eighty yards of bodies around us, some piled on top of each other. We must’ve slain hundreds of them.

  “Did you or the other demigods kill any of these mortals?” I asked Souriff. My curiosity about the demigods’ potentially broken oath was a good distraction to the terrible pain in my legs.

  “Failina and I did not, but I saw Airinold slay many. I am concerned what Basael will think of this, but at least Valinox has never been this close to death before. He is not brave. He will be scared. His plans may change.”

  “All done, Jon,” Michael said as he took the last arrow out of the back of my thigh. “You can heal yourself.”

  After I finished, I helped the others look over the bodies to see if we might’ve taken down Davon. Unfortunately, we didn’t find him among the others. I did notice, however, some of the fire mages who had shown great strength with their sorcery, as well as the two men trying to stop us with shields when the curse had broken mana and the fight had turned in our favor.

  Eventually, the king arrived, along with the rest of our peers.

  “Well done! Very well done!” Nykal said, smiling more than I had ever seen him before as he opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. “This victory goes to my sorcerers and the demigods!”

  There were many cheers as I walked over to his majesty.

  “What’s the next part of the plan?” I asked as the cheering died down.

  “We have to wait for them to act again,” the king replied, still smiling. “I’m sure we will be ready for anything they throw at us.”

  But waiting was always difficult for me, especially when I had an idea of how to turn this success into an even greater one. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure the king wasn’t going to allow me to do it, which meant I might have to break my promise to him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  We celebrated with music and food. I enjoyed the company of my friends, though without ale because we had to be ready for another possible attack the next day. The king still didn’t know that I could and had cured drunkenness when the other of his sorcerers had taken their celebrations a little too far in the past, and I liked keeping it a secret. It was one of two things the king wouldn’t know about until later.

  I took Hadley by her hand and led her away from the group. “I have a favor to ask you,” I said.

  “What is it?”

  “Do you remember when we first met and we were riding to the castle from Livea? You ran your hands through my hair and said you could give me a trim.”

  “I remember. I had stolen one of your hairs, but you realized what I was doing.” She brushed her hands through my hair. “It has gotten long, but I like it this way.”

  “Then you’re not going to like what I’m going to ask.”

  She frowned. “Don’t tell me you want me to cut it all off.”

  “More than that.”

  “More? How can there be more?”

  “I have a plan.”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Not here. Can I take you to the river?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you happen to have shears you can bring?”

  “No, but Eden does.”

  “I’d rather she doesn’t know.”

  Hadley’s dark eyebrows lowered. “What kind of plan is this?”

  “One that only you’re going to know about for now. There must be a barber in this place with some shears we can borrow.”

  “I know where Eden keeps hers. I’m sure I could snag them without her knowing, so long as we bring them back.”

  “Yes, we will.”

  “And then you’ll explain the plan?”

  “Once we get to the river.”

  “All right, wait here.”

  *****

  I carried Hadley to the river on my back. Once there, I took out the mirror wrapped in cloth that I had stashed in a small bag. I then took out a small shaving blade.

  “I want you to cut off as much of my hair as possible,” I said as I sat on a flat rock near the river.

  Hadley stood behind me and played with my hair. “But it’s perfect as it is right now.”

  My light brown hair had gotten long enough to fall over my eyes if I didn’t brush it back. My stubble had become a little shaggier as well in the recent days, as I had removed trimming from my routine. It covered the planes of my defined jaw and brought out the shapes of my lips. I was going to miss it, along with my hair, but probably not as much as Hadley would.

  I looked back over my shoulder. “You’re going shave my face as well.”

  Hadley clicked her tongue. “Why?” She pinched my cheeks as she made a kissing face. “You are so darn handsome right now.”

  I chuckled. “I’m going to have to look very different for this plan to work.”

  “Why…? Oh god, Jon, you’re not suggesting what I think?”

  “What are you thinking?” I couldn’t imagine that she had figured it out this quickly.

  “Those papers from Rohaer—I’ve been wondering about them. Now I understand.”

  “How did you see them?” I had thought I had kept them well-hidden in the pocket of my pants.

  “One of the times we were…having some fun, I felt something in your pocket. I was curious, so I checked later when you had taken off those pants. I’m sorry. It’s
just that you’re not a secretive person, so I wondered what you might be keeping to yourself. I thought you could’ve been up to something dangerous. Are you angry?”

  “No, but you could’ve asked.”

  “I’m sorry. I will from now on. Will you forgive me?”

  I took her hands. “Yes, of course, but you can see now I was going to tell you.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “You seem to have an idea of what I might be planning. Can I hear?”

  Hadley laid out my plan with very specific details. It concerned me that she had figured it out so easily. The only way it would work would be if Rohaer couldn’t peace it together as easily.

  “But a trim to your hair and beard won’t be enough,” Hadley said when we were finished discussing the plan.

  “I know, but let’s worry about that later. It’s probably going to take a while to cut off all my hair, and soon it might be cold out.” I took off my shirt to keep hair off it.

  Hadley let out a slow breath. “All right.” She walked in front of me and crouched down, staring at my face and chest for a long while.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Memorizing you.” She bit her lips seductively, then walked over and climbed onto my lap as she faced me. She leaned close to my lips but stopped short. Whispering, she said, “You promise me that you will not do this plan unless you are unrecognizable by those closest to you, because only then will you be safe in enemy territory.”

  “I promise.”

  She kissed me.

  *****

  When we were done, I asked Hadley that, if anyone was to inquire about me, to tell them I had gone to Drayer to check on the people there and that I might not be back until tomorrow. It was important that my peers, and especially the king, did not know the truth. With the time left in the day, I actually flew north all the way to the capital. I trusted a certain tailor there to provide me with everything I needed.

  It was late in the evening by the time I arrived. I landed right on the street in front of many people who seemed shocked. I waved to them to show them I wasn’t a threat. Then I walked quickly into the tailor’s shop to demonstrate the rush I was in, as it seemed like a few of them wanted to come up and speak to me.

  The tailor was an older gentleman named William. When I entered his shop, he was performing some measurements for a middle-aged man who held out his arms. The tailor straightened his back as he saw me heading toward him.

  “Jon, it’s good to see you again,” William said. “This is Jon Oklar, the healer,” he told the other man.

  “I’ve heard of him.” The man bowed to me.

  I bowed back. “Pleased to meet you. I’m actually in a hurry. I have to get back south before Rohaer strikes again. We just held them back today and almost killed Valinox in the process.”

  “Good lord, then what are you doing here?” the tailor asked.

  “I’m hoping we can discuss that alone.” I addressed the man, “Would you mind coming back in an hour?” I handed over a gold coin.

  “That’s no problem, healer,” he said, “but can I ask you for something instead of coin?”

  “What hurts?”

  He gave a nod and a half smile. “My shoulder. My horse kicked me when my back was turned, and I think my shoulder popped out. I believe I fixed it myself after, but it’s still bothering me. The bloody nag has had it out for me since I bought her a week ago.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder and healed away the damage in a matter of seconds. He groaned for a breath, then grinned when I told him it was done.

  “It feels just perfect!” he said.

  His smile widened even more when I handed him the gold coin. “Save it toward a horse that likes you better.”

  “Will do. Thank you, young man, for the healing and for your service. I’ll be back in an hour,” he told William and headed out.

  “What can I do for you, or is it for the king?” William asked me.

  “You’re going to help me win this war.”

  “From right here in my shop?”

  “That’s right. I’m actually disappointed that you recognized me because I’ve come here to make myself unrecognizable.”

  “Considering I’m the one who made your shirt and your pants, and a man’s clothes are what I look at the moment he enters, you shouldn’t be so disappointed after all. From the shoulders up, I hardly see the old Jon. Hey, wait. How come you need to be unrecognizable?”

  “Because I’m going to pose as a soldier from Rohaer, and there are several of them who would recognize me, including Valinox himself. I want you to put together a tunic for me. Black seems to be the style in Rohaer.” I thought this mostly from Rohaer’s black tabard but also from some of the clothes under the armor of the soldiers we fought. I usually preferred shirts and pants instead of tunics, and I didn’t own any in black.

  “Medium quality is best,” I continued, “and the tunic doesn’t need to fit perfectly. I’m also going to need an eyepatch made by tomorrow morning, one that will cover as much of my head without looking suspicious.”

  “I’ll need to measure your head then.”

  I took out three gold coins from my pouch and handed them to him as he came close with his measuring tape.

  “I have to say,” he spoke in a dubious tone, “that I don’t think even an eyepatch is going to make you unrecognizable. You have a very distinct face.”

  “Leave that to me.”

  “All right, I will, but which eye do you want covered?” he asked as I started to leave, making me realize that I hadn’t thought of it yet.

  A chill ran down my spine. If I hadn’t thought of that yet, could there be something else that might surprise me? My plan suddenly seemed very fragile, so much so that I started to wonder if I should just head back now.

  No, it was just my nerves looking for a way out of this. The plan was solid. I had been considering it ever since Ray had fetched me the papers of two of Rohaer’s soldiers. One identified a man as thirty-three and the other as twenty-two. Depending on how I looked when I was done altering my face, I could choose the papers of the older or the younger.

  “Cover my left eye.” Being right-handed, it seemed like the better choice.

  *****

  I retired at an inn that served supper. The day had been long. It felt like a week ago that I had fought against Rohaer at the defile, but it was just earlier that morning. The last items I had to purchase were a couple of cloths that I knew I would ruin soon. I requested a few extra candles in my room, as well. I needed as much light as I could safely procure.

  I had chosen this room specifically because of the large mirror hanging on the wall. It cost me more, but it was necessary. I pulled over the two bedside tables, positioning them on either side of me. I put two candles on each of them. Then I shut the curtains to the room. With it now being dark outside, only the bright flames on the candles gave me sight.

  I picked up my knife from the table to my right and had a few breaths as I leaned close to the mirror and positioned it over my cheek. I was going to start with the easy cuts and work up to the worst one.

  It took me well into the night to finish warping my face. It was a learning process that dragged on for many painful hours. I ran the knife down the smile wrinkles on my cheeks and across the concern lines on my forehead. It took just the right amount of strength with my knife, and later with my healing spell, to make the scars resemble wrinkles from age. When I was finally satisfied, it was time to really ugly myself up and distract people from the rest of what might be familiar about my face.

  I hissed in pain as I slid the tip of the knife down from above my right eyebrow to the top of my eye. That’s when I halted and healed it just enough to stop the bleeding. I wiped my blood off and had a look.

  That’s quite gruesome, all right. I didn’t want it to look so fresh, however, as it appeared too red and open. I healed little by little, watching the open wound close before my eyes as the pain brough
t on tears and blurred my vision. Eventually the wound closed completely and turned pinkish. It was still not easy to look at, but that was the point. I was satisfied with it.

  It hurt even worse to continue the wound beneath my eye, down across my cheek. I wiped off the blood and repeated the same process, wiping my tears on my sleeve throughout.

  Finally, I was done. It was surprisingly disheartening to look at myself. I appeared many years older, and I was ugly. The large scar traveling down my face and across my eye brought out embarrassment at the thought of others staring at it.

  This was absurd. Why did I feel this way when I had done this to myself on purpose? Perhaps I was vainer than I thought. I had better get over it quickly. The soldier I was soon to become was not supposed to be embarrassed by his scar.

  I used the water basin to wash my face. Then I blew out the candles and immediately fell sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  I visited the castle before the long trip back. In our haste to get the king and his family to safety, no one had been able to grab the king’s councilman. I wanted to check on him to see if he wished to go back with me, but I also wanted to test out my new disguise.

  I landed in the courtyard with my black tabard and matching black eye patch. William had made it out of leather, and it was uncomfortable. I hoped I would get used to the feeling soon. The worst part was not the strap around my head but being forced to look out of only one eye.

  Randy stood outside the closed door to the keep as castle workers bustled about. All stopped to look at me shortly after I landed, fear evident in their eyes. It was a good sign, as I had seen all of these people before and they surely would’ve recognized me without my disguise.

  “It’s Jon Oklar,” I said as I lifted up the eyepatch. “I’ve changed my appearance.”

  There was a collective breath of relief as they must’ve recognized my voice.

  “Any news?” Randy asked as I stopped in front of him.

  “We’re winning, and the king and his family are safe.”

  “That is good to hear. Looking for the councilman?”

  “I am.”