The Roots of Wrath

by B. T. Narro

  “He’s in the great hall.”

  “Thank you.”

  I glanced the other way, at the apartments, before turning toward the great hall. I missed my room, my bed, and my friends living comfortably all around me. But as I entered the great hall, I realized that I missed the meals almost as much. I wandered into the dining area to find a number of the castle workers eating. I had never seen them eat before. They must usually do so before us, early in the morning as it was now. Or perhaps they normally ate elsewhere while we stayed at the castle. They all stopped and looked over in alarm.

  “It’s just me, Jon Oklar,” I said, lifting the eyepatch again and giving a friendly wave. “I’m testing out a disguise and looking for Barrett.”

  His voice came from the corner of the room, a little behind me. “Jon?”

  I put the eyepatch back down and turned.

  He gasped. “Some disguise. What happened after the demigods took the king and queen?”

  “Many things. I can tell you on the way, if you would like to go there. I’m headed back now.”

  “Did the king send you?”

  “No, he doesn’t know I’m here. I need to test out the disguise on him before I can convince him to let me use it.”

  “Oh.” The councilman hummed in thought. “I have never flown before.” He hummed again. “No, someone must manage the castle in the king’s absence. Unless Nykal sends for me, I’m staying put.”

  “I should head back, then. I’m sure news is on the way.”

  “Wait, at least tell me something. Is everyone safe?”

  “They are, and we are winning. I believe it won’t be much longer now.”

  “Very good,” he said with a smile.

  I packed my eyepatch in my bag so as not to lose it during my trip back. “Goodbye for now,” I said.

  “Goodbye and good luck.”

  *****

  This time upon returning, I figured I wouldn’t have trouble finding our fort in the forest. First of all, it was light out. Second, I knew it to be near the defile, which I could now recognize from the air when I was close. I had followed the road between the kingdoms the whole way here, now coming down to land in the forest before anyone in the fort could spot me. I took off the wraps of cloth, healed my wind-burned eyes, and flew carefully through the trees toward my destination.

  With our entire army packed around the fort, I spotted the tents first. I figured I wouldn’t cause alarm walking toward them from beyond the outskirts. There were so many soldiers and support workers in our army that most people probably saw many faces every day they hadn’t before, but what about a man with an eyepatch? He might arouse suspicion, but I didn’t want to skulk around the trees while looking for my peers, either.

  I decided to walk confidently through the fort. When I noticed a few heads turning toward me, I felt blood rush to my cheeks.

  It’s fine, I told myself. If at any point while in Rohaer you are in danger, you can always escape.

  No one tried to stop me as I made my way around the tents and toward the fort. I noticed a small fireball floating in the air. I headed over to find Remi beneath it, contorting her hands as she looked up at it with a squint. The princess stood by, with a couple of guards watching. Kataleya stood near Reuben as they gazed at the fireball. They seemed to be chatting comfortably. Kataleya even gave a laugh as she said something, which brought out a smile from Reuben.

  “Let me try now,” Callie said.

  “Be careful,” Remi said. “I haven’t heard that Jon is back yet.”

  “I’m sure I won’t need healing.”

  I tried to get a little closer, but one of the guards extended his arm to keep me from entering the small circle.

  “Go find somewhere else to be,” he recommended.

  I moved back a step and watched.

  The princess moved her hands about. A cluster of fire, loosely connected and about the size of her small fist, swirled around above her hands.

  “You need more control,” Remi said. “Think of enclosing the fire with your mind.”

  “I know that,” Callie said with a bit of irritation. “It just takes me longer, but I can do it. Watch.”

  But the fire extended down toward her hand, licking her wrist as she screamed and jumped away. The fire fell to the dirt. Kataleya stepped toward it, but it quickly died down to embers before water was needed.

  I took this as my opportunity for theatrics and rushed toward Callie. “Are you all right, princess?” I asked in my altered voice, speaking more with a frown and from the top of my throat as I had practiced on the way here.

  “Step away,” said one of her guards as he and another man got between me and Callie.

  I put up my hands and backed away, making eye contact with Callie between the large men. “It’s all right, we’re friends, aren’t we Callie?”

  She looked confused as she stared at me. “No, I don’t know you.”

  It was hard to hold back my smile. “We are. And you, Remi. I know you as well.”

  Remi tilted her head as she stared at me. “What’s your name?”

  “Jon,” I said, knowing it was a somewhat common name I could get away with.

  “Jon what?”

  I glanced over at Kataleya and Reuben looking at me with the same quizzical expression. I wondered if there was something about me that was familiar, or if they really felt as though they had never seen me before.

  “You are Remi Ryler, from Granlo,” I said, dropping my hands and gesturing at her casually. “One of the king’s sorcerers, along with Kataleya Yorn over there, who comes from Livea. Reuben, meanwhile, hails from the capital.”

  “Excuse me, but who are you?” Kataleya said, approaching with Reuben defensively at her side.

  “You and Remi haven’t known each other a full year, and yet you’re close friends, along with Eden and Aliana. The newest sorcerer who took an oath to the king is Hadley, and I’d say you are warming up to her as well, Kataleya. However, you didn’t get along with her one bit in the beginning. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you hated her.”

  I realized I had overplayed my hand when Kataleya started to form a grin. “God above! Jon?”

  Callie gasped as Remi cursed.

  “It is you, isn’t it?” Callie asked.

  I took off my eyepatch. “Surprise,” I said in my normal voice.

  “Nox’s blade!” Reuben exclaimed as he leaned forward and squinted at me. “It is you; I can feel your Induct stone!”

  “What did you do to yourself?” Callie asked as she came up and touched my face. She gasped again. “It’s not paint!”

  “I wouldn’t trust paint to do this kind of job.”

  Remi and Kataleya came close as well. “Egad, Jon,” Remi said. “You’ve done a marvelous job with the light wrinkles on your cheeks and forehead. I can barely tell that you cut yourself to make them.”

  Kataleya ran her finger down the scar. “God above,” she repeated. “Let me see again with the eyepatch.”

  She stepped back as I put it on. Then she turned to Remi, “I can barely tell it’s him.”

  “Same.”

  “Now I must speak with the king,” I said and took off suddenly. I had made quite an entrance, so I figured a theatrical exit would be appropriate.

  His majesty had to be where he was most secure. If he was not near Remi and his daughter, he was most likely in the fort, probably in his tent or nearby.

  Rather than fly there directly, I took myself out of the large encampment to the northern outskirts and walked toward the fort that way. I didn’t want many people to see me in the air. It was highly unlikely that a spy of Rohaer would find out about me and warn my enemies, but it was better to be safe and limit my exposure. Also, I wanted to surprise my peers if I came across more of them on the way to the king.

  I did not see anyone else I knew as I came to the fort and went through the open gate, but there I did pass by Michael and Eden, who seemed to be enjoying each other
’s company as they stood a tiny bit closer to each other than friends tended to stand. I walked right by them.

  “Good morning,” I said in my altered voice.

  They each glanced at me for a moment, told me good morning, then seemed to forget I existed. I spotted more of my friends soon after.

  Three of them sat at a table where they looked to be having a late breakfast. Hadley sat beside Aliana, with Charlie on the bench on the other side of the table. I thought for sure I would be recognized by one of them, most likely Hadley because she knew what I was doing.

  I sat next to Charlie, halting everyone’s conversation as they stared at me. I noticed Hadley leaning toward me with a stare. I met her gaze. She opened her mouth in surprise, but closed it with a smile.

  “Good morning, Charlie, Aliana, Hadley,” I said. “How are all of you today?”

  “Um, fine,” Charlie answered with a puzzled expression.

  Hadley put her hand over her mouth as she seemed to be holding in a laugh.

  “What’s going on, here?” Aliana asked, clearly noticing Hadley smiling while attempting to cover her mouth. “Who are you?” she asked me.

  “You know me very well,” I said in my altered voice.

  She and Charlie looked at my face closely. Suddenly, Aliana gasped. “Jon?”

  “Yes.” I took off the eyepatch.

  “Wow, Jon?” Charlie laughed with delight. “It is you!”

  Hadley came around the table and took my face in her hands. “The devil’s tail, Jon, this is truly extreme.”

  “It has to be if it’s going to work.” I stood and put on the eyepatch, then leaned toward her as I altered my voice. “Now how about a kiss, young lady. Mmm, you’re looking rather delicious today.”

  She let out a half-scream, half-laugh as she recoiled. “It’s really like a different person.” She smiled at me again and looked closely into my eyes.

  Then her smile faded as she let out a breath. “So this means you’re really going to do it.”

  “I am. I just have to convince the king.” And leave behind my Induct stone.

  “Do what?” Charlie asked.

  “I’m going into Rohaer. Hadley can explain. I have to see the king now.”

  “You will see us again before you leave, right?” Hadley asked.

  “I will.” I kissed her forehead and headed off to the large tent at the center of the fort.

  I removed my eyepatch on the way there and addressed Rick at the tent in a whisper. “It’s Jon Oklar. I need to speak with the king immediately.” I showed my papers just in case. “I have to test out this disguise on him to convince him it will work.”

  Rick seemed confused, or perhaps concerned. He glanced at my papers. Then he looked at me again, nodded, and moved aside without question. I put on my eye patch before passing through the tent flap. Within the tent, our various leaders seemed to be in good spirits. Cheery tones were shared between the king, Byron, and even Leon. That changed, however, when they looked over and noticed me.

  Leon took a defensive stance in front of the others. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

  “I’m an old friend of yours and the king’s,” I announced mysteriously. “I’ve come to bring victory.”

  “Rick?” the king called dubiously.

  Rick walked in behind me. “Sire?” he asked.

  “You let this man in?”

  I figured my point had been proven, but I was still having fun.

  “He did because he knows me well,” I said. “As do you, sire. You trust me.”

  I came closer to give him a better look at my face. Leon remained standing in front of Nykal, scowling at me as if he was restraining himself from casting a spell.

  “I am one of your most trusted sorcerers,” I hinted.

  I stared at the king as he looked back at me, waiting for him to recognize my eyes.

  He didn’t.

  “I do not know this man,” he said as he backed away nervously.

  Perhaps he had never taken the time to really look at me before.

  “Leon?” I tried, this time in my normal voice.

  “It’s Jon,” Rick said, probably too nervous to let this go on.

  “Jon who?” the king asked.

  “Oh shit, it is!” Leon said and gave my shoulder a good shake as he let out a laugh.

  “Jon Oklar?” Nykal took an uneasy step toward me.

  “Yes, it’s me.”

  “What have you done to yourself? What is all this?”

  “He means to put himself behind enemy lines,” Leon said. “Don’t you?”

  Byron came forward. “Jon, this is true?”

  “Yes.” I showed the papers I had obtained from one of Rohaer’s soldiers. I had Ray fetch them from the bodies after we first tried to take down Davon. “This belonged to one of the men who came to Drayer. He would be thirty-three if he was still alive, according to his birthday. I’m sure I could pass as him. And if I’m wrong, I’ll get myself out of there safely.”

  “What do you intend to do while you’re there?” the king asked.

  “Yesterday we took a major step toward winning this war. I plan to take another.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  I kept my goodbyes short, with promises to return soon. I left behind my Valaer steel armor and sword and instead brought with me a normal blade of steel like the kind our enemies had. I wore no armor, just my black tunic and black tabard of Rohaer over it. The hardest part was giving my Induct stone to Hadley to hold on to.

  After the king had agreed to my plan, the demigods were informed. Failina went with me. We flew south through the forest without going above the canopy. Even though I only flew for a minute without my stone with me, I could feel the difference. A voice told me to give up this entire plan and go back so I wouldn’t have to part with it. I couldn’t get rid of the voice completely, but I could ignore it. Hopefully it would go away soon, because it was rather distracting.

  With Souriff, Failina had performed much of our scouting and knew just how far to lead me through the woods before I might encounter one of our enemies. We did not speak on the way there.

  I was a little nervous, mostly because of the injury Failina was going to inflict on my body. Such an injury would make things difficult if I was discovered and needed to evacuate myself quickly.

  Eventually Failina landed in the middle of the woods in front of me. To my untrained eyes, there was nothing different about this area from the rest.

  “Here is close enough,” she said as I came down near her. “Their camp is about a mile east.”

  “Are you sure you know where to shoot me?”

  “We went over this, Jon. I remember. I will embed the arrow between your spine and shoulder, not too deep.”

  I nodded as I showed her my back and looked over my shoulder. She loaded an arrow onto the bow she had brought with her.

  “Look forward and take a deep breath in,” she advised.

  I straightened my neck and took a breath.

  She loosed.

  I groaned as I staggered away from her. I would’ve thought it would help that I had an arrow embedded in almost the same place just yesterday, but it didn’t. The pain only got worse as I tried to come to terms with the idea that I would be running a mile with this blasted thing sticking out of my shoulder.

  “Are you sure you can make it?” Failina asked.

  “I am.”

  “Then good luck. This is very brave of you, but don’t let pride keep you from fleeing. If your life is in danger, get out.”

  “I will.”

  She took off back the way we came. Soon she was out of sight.

  I screamed, “Help! One of them shot me in the back!”

  I heard nothing.

  I ran east frantically as if fearful for my life. I screamed a few more times for help, but it seemed like I was putting on a show for no one.

  I did not let discouragement stop me. I ran and screamed until eventually someone called
back.

  “Over here!”

  I rushed toward the voice and eventually caught sight of two men displaying the same black tabard of Rohaer on their bodies as I did. One had a bow, while the other carried his sword openly.

  “Someone shot me,” I said in my practiced voice.

  “Did you see who?” asked the bowman.

  “No, I was too busy running away so they wouldn’t kill me!”

  “What were you doing out there alone?” asked the other.

  “I went out to forage, just a mile.” Souriff and Failina had reported that foraging among Rohaer’s soldiers was common. Sometimes they were even found going it alone.

  We watched the forest silently for a long while.

  “It doesn’t look like they followed you,” the bowman said.

  “Maybe it’s a trap,” I replied. “They could expect us to go after them.”

  The one with his sword ready headed east with confidence. “Come and get us cowards!” he called. “I challenge you to fight me!” He cast dteria one way, then another. The whoosh of his energy picked up leaves and dirt and rustled nearby bushes.

  The archer soon joined him in taunting absolutely no one. “Fight us, cowards!”

  “I’m going to the healer,” I said as I turned away from them. They continued to shout into the forest, barely aware of me leaving.

  It didn’t take long for me to see the enemy camp ahead. I found it difficult to be nervous with pain radiating through my back, as I was just too eager to get this blasted arrow out of my body.

  The camp was located near the river that ran alongside the road between kingdoms. I crossed over the water by a short bridge as a couple of men with empty wheelbarrows went past me the other way. They seemed more interested in the arrow sticking out of my back than in my face. I wanted to ask them to point me in the direction of the healer, but I figured most of the soldiers should know.

  It was easy to keep up a contorted expression that showed my pain. If someone caught me going the wrong direction, I was certain the arrow in my back would be a good enough excuse for my confusion.

  I saw many leaving the camp on my way in, some on horseback with wagons in tow. Most of the tents ahead of me were circular and large, clearly meant for sharing. Almost all were plain white. Only the large tent near the middle had a bit of decoration, black lines down its sides. I stayed clear of it.