The Stewards of Reed, Volume 1: The Rise of Fallon

by Wark, RM

  “Thank you, Hammond. The village owes you, and your family, a debt of gratitude.”

  *************

  They walked in silence across the barren plain. With only the light of the moon to guide them, Lord Edmund, Lady Dinah and Gordon carefully made their way towards a small band of hills in the distance. After traveling for an hour so, they came upon a small outcropping of rocks. They had passed by dozens of similar outcroppings along their journey, but at this one Lord Edmund stopped.

  “We have reached one of the entrances to my home,” he said in hushed tones. “It is a back entrance of sorts, though, so if you prefer we can continue walking for another twenty minutes or so until we reach the front entrance.”

  Gordon looked towards Lady Dinah, knowing her preference was all that really mattered.

  “Is something wrong with the back entrance?” she asked.

  “No,” Lord Edmund said cautiously, “but it is not for the faint of heart.”

  “Nothing about my heart is faint,” Lady Dinah replied. She was tired from the lack of sleep. She was troubled by the news of the Eastern Wizards. She was in no mood for Lord Edmund’s vague commentary.

  “What about the horse and pony?” asked Gordon, looking back towards the beasts that he had been quietly leading through the high steppes of Aberdeen.

  “Remove their baggage, please,” Lord Edmund replied, “and I shall take care of them.”

  When Gordon was done, Lord Edmund raised his wand towards the horse and pony and uttered some nonsensical words. They were nonsensical to Gordon, anyway. The beasts disappeared in a swirl of smoke. When the air cleared, Gordon was shocked to find a rat and a mouse instead.

  “Place them in your pockets, please, and hold on to them tight.”

  Gordon was able to grab them with surprising ease. Poor things must be in shock, he thought as he put them in the front pockets of his jacket.

  “Now may we proceed?” asked Lady Dinah, her patience wearing thin.

  “Of course, my Queen,” bowed Lord Edmund.

  The sarcasm was obvious and it made Gordon angry, but he wisely held his tongue.

  Lady Dinah either missed the sarcasm or did not care. “Thank you, Lord Edmund,” she said, her voice tired.

  They watched as Lord Edmund tapped on various rocks within the outcropping in a complicated pattern. When he finished, a low grumbling sound came from below their feet. “Hold on,” said the wizard with a smile.

  Before he knew what was happening, the ground beneath Gordon’s feet gave way and he was falling into a dark abyss. He could hear the screams of Lady Dinah beside him. The screams did not stop until a soft pile of sand broke their fall. That is when Lord Edmund’s chuckling became more obvious. Gordon looked around. They were in some sort of void below the ground. It was dimly lit by some candles on the wall. He could not see anything above him except for darkness.

  Lord Edmund, still chuckling, finally came into view. “Shall we continue?”

  Lady Dinah was positively livid, but she held her tongue as she brushed the sand from her traveling clothes. “May I ask what might be in store for us next?” She glared at Lord Edmund.

  “Illuminare viam!” Lord Edmund commanded with his wand. The yellow candle flames turned blue and an opening appeared in the wall. “Follow me,” he said. They walked through the opening and found themselves in another small room with even less lighting.

  “Aperire ostium!” This time a small hole, less than half the size of the previous opening, appeared on the far wall. It was clearly too small to walk through, even for a dwarf, and Lady Dinah and Gordon looked at Lord Edmund with confused expressions.

  “You must scoot through on your backside,” Lord Edmund explained with far too much giddiness. “It is a slide. It shall take you to the back entrance of my cave.”

  Lady Dinah closed her eyes and it was clear she was wishing they had just walked the additional twenty minutes to reach the front entrance. “Very well, I shall go first,” she said at last.

  After making her way through the small opening, Lady Dinah immediately found herself gliding down a slide in complete darkness with a surprising amount of speed. The slide twisted this way and that, going up and down with such velocity that she found herself momentarily airborne at times. Just as she was becoming accustomed to it, the slide ended, and she fell through the air into another dark void. Again there was a pile of sand to break her fall, but this time she was in utter darkness. Fortunately, she remembered that she too had a wand. Her eyes were just beginning to adjust to the faint glow of the wand when she heard the swishing sound of Gordon coming down the slide. She managed to jump out of the way of his fall just in time.

  “Apologies, my lady,” mumbled Gordon as he struggled to stand up.

  “Never mind, just move!” instructed the wizard.

  Soon their baggage fell to the ground and was quickly retrieved by the dwarf. A little while later Lord Edmund dropped from above and landed on the sand, somehow managing to remain upright. He smiled brightly at his companions before raising his wand and calling out, “Sum domum!” At his command, the entire room lit up with candlelight and a door appeared on one of the walls. Lord Edmund tapped on it three times, opened the door and beckoned them inside.

  “Welcome to my home,” he said with a bow.

  Lady Dinah exhaled in relief and stepped inside, followed quickly by Gordon and the frightened little rat and mouse hiding in his pockets. They both gasped at what they beheld. They were in a large chamber with a small waterfall feeding a pool of ice blue water illuminated by a thousand candles.

  “It is quite refreshing,” said Lord Edmund, “not too cold.” He took immense pleasure at their stares of wonder. “Please, follow me.” An intricate path of granite squares, each bordered in gemstones – diamonds, sapphires and rubies – led them past the pool and into a hall that was also illuminated by candlelight. The hall emptied into a huge chamber filled with stalactites and stalagmites. The walls sparkled with gemstones and there seemed to be a slight breeze in the air. Lady Dinah noticed that couches and chairs with fine silk fabric were scattered about, and a grand piano was placed in one of the corners.

  “This is magnificent,” she said.

  “This is the main hall,” replied Lord Edmund. “All of the other rooms feed off of this chamber. The dining hall is that way, the bedrooms are down that hall, the kitchen is over there, the library is down that way.” Lord Edmund was pointing this way and that but Lady Dinah and Gordon were too caught up in the beauty of the hall to pay much attention. It was as if the cave lived in a perpetual state of twilight, illuminated by candles high and low and the occasional torch.

  It was not until the rat and mouse started moving about restlessly in Gordon’s pockets that the dwarf’s attention was drawn away from the beauty of his surroundings. “Excuse me, Lord Edmund, what shall be done with these, er, horses?”

  “Aye, Patrick is probably in the antechamber. He shall take care of them. Follow me.” Before Lord Edmund left the room with Gordon he rang a bell and a young lady entered a few moments later.

  “Aye, my lord?” she said, trying to suppress her yawn. It was quite early after all – the sun had not even come up yet.

  “Tamara, please help Queen Dinah settle into her room. She and her dwarf shall be staying with us for a bit.”

  “Aye, my lord.” Tamara then smiled at Lady Dinah and grabbed her bag. “Please follow me, my lady,” she said, walking along another granite path outlined in gemstones.

  *************

  Lady Dinah barely remembered climbing into the bed and closing her eyes, but it was fairly late in the day when she finally awoke. Not that she would know it without the light of the sun to inform her. After washing up, she made her way by candlelight to the main hall. She was happy to see both Gordon and Lord Edmund sitting there, enjoying some tea. Lord Edmund smiled, rang his bell and invited Lady Dinah to sit down with them. Before long, Tamara came by with some tea.

 
; “I trust you found the guest room to your liking.”

  “Aye, indeed. You have a beautiful home, Lord Edmund,” Lady Dinah confessed. She no longer held a lowly opinion of cave dwellers and their caves.

  “And a most wonderful pool,” Gordon added. He could not resist the temptation to take a plunge in the ice blue waters when he had awakened earlier.

  Lord Edmund smiled. He allowed Lady Dinah a few more sips of tea before speaking again. “I must admit I have not had many visitors as of late, not since the Second War…I am guessing that you are here because of my message.”

  “Your message?” Lady Dinah asked in surprise.

  “The one regarding my assignment,” Lord Edmund replied.

  “Ah, the message that did not say much of anything at all,” Lady Dinah said in a tone that was half playful, half chiding.

  “Is that not the reason for your visit?” asked Lord Edmund, confused.

  “Aye, I should like to hear your news of the East, but there is a separate purpose for my visit.”

  “And what might that be, my lady?”

  “I am searching for some items of my mother’s. Her library was divided before the Second War, and there are some personal journals of hers that I should like returned.”

  “I see. Well, you are welcome to have a look at my library. I did take a few items, though I do not recall any journals specifically. Let us have a bite to eat first; I imagine you must be starving.”

  It occurred to Lady Dinah that she was in fact quite hungry, so she agreed without hesitation. The dining hall was spectacular with long hanging red silk banners and the largest wooden table Lady Dinah had ever seen. It could have easily sat forty people. But with just the three of them there it seemed rather empty.

  “You must throw amazing parties, Lord Edmund,” noted Lady Dinah.

  “Aye, I used to anyway,” he replied with a touch of sadness.

  There was an awkward silence in the dining hall before Lady Dinah spoke again. “Perhaps now might be a good time to discuss what you discovered in the East?” she suggested.

  “Aye, my lady,” Lord Edmund replied. He proceeded to tell Lady Dinah of his ventures over the Divisidero Mountains – incognito, of course – to find out why the Easterners were invading. “It is quite a foreboding land. The region has been ravaged by plague and drought, that is obvious. The earth is parched and dying and desolate, though pockets of dense wilderness remain. And there are wolves, my lady,” he added ominously. “I nearly became dinner for one of the beasts.”

  Wolves had not been seen in the Western Territories for more than a thousand years, and although Lady Dinah had never set eyes upon a wolf in her lifetime, the news sent shivers down her spine.

  Lord Edmund continued on. “In my travels I came upon several villages, but most were completely abandoned without a soul in sight. A few small villages were still inhabited with a handful of desperate and starving Easterners. I doubt they shall remain for long; it is likely they are already gone.”

  “Have there really been that many Eastern invaders into the borderlands?” asked Lady Dinah with growing alarm. “Perhaps I have yet to receive the latest word from Lord Jameson, but I had not been under the impression that entire villages of Easterners had made their way across the Divisidero Mountains.”

  Lord Edmund frowned. “I do not believe they have all come west, my lady. Some of the abandoned villages were small, but many were quite large – almost as large as Bartow – and I am certain that Lord Jameson would have sent word if the number of invaders was that great. I spent as much time as I dared trying to discover the whereabouts of the missing Easterners; alas, it was to no avail. Wherever it was they went, their trails turned cold long ago.”

  It was Lady Dinah’s turn to frown. “So the Easterners are invading, and yet so many more have gone missing and we do not know where or why.”

  “I am afraid not, my lady.”

  “And last night you also spoke of seeing Eastern Wizards in the West?” This news was probably more disconcerting for the wizard.

  “Aye.”

  “And for how long has this been going on?” demanded the wizard. She was upset that Lord Edmund’s one and only vague message to her had not included this troubling news.

  “I cannot say for how long Eastern Wizards have been crossing into the West. I must confess that upon returning from my travels to the East I was a bit reluctant to leave the comfort of my cave for some time. I have only recently started to venture out at night again, and that is when I discovered them – two Eastern Wizards making their way across the plain.”

  “Did they sense you were there?”

  “No, my lady. Not that I could tell anyway. I would imagine I was too far away and too small; another benefit of shape-shifting, I suppose.”

  “But you could sense them? You are certain they were Eastern Wizards?”

  “Aye, my lady. I am certain they were wizards, and they were no wizards that I have ever laid eyes upon in my lifetime. So unless there is a secret tribe of Western Wizards wandering about, they were for certain Eastern Wizards.”

  “And where were they going?”

  “I do not know, my lady. I was only able to follow them as far as Lucerne and the Lower River Kael. Alas, I was not equipped to take the journey further, so I started back towards Thorpe with the intent of sending word of what I had seen to Mt. Xavier. It was on my return that I stumbled upon you and the dwarf.”

  Upon hearing Lord Edmond’s explanation, Lady Dinah’s anger subsided, but her worry grew. “We must alert the other wizards immediately,” she said. As there was no imminent threat, at least not one that was obvious, she dismissed the idea of using the crystal ball. “Might you spare a few birds, Lord Edmund?”

  “Aye, my lady.”

  Lady Dinah sat quietly for a moment, mulling everything over in her mind. “And what of Durango? I hear rumors of war.”

  “War? I do not believe it has come to that – at least not yet – though I imagine Lord Jameson could better speak to that.”

  “And have you spoken to Lord Jameson recently?”

  “No, my lady,” replied Lord Edmund. “I have not spoken to him in some time, but perhaps Lady Adeline has….”

  “I am planning to visit her next.”

  “I see. Have you been to her place before?”

  “No, I have not. It is rare that I have an opportunity to visit with other wizards – they usually come to me,” Lady Dinah said, somewhat embarrassed by the confession.

  “Well, you shall need a boat. She lives on an island in the middle of Lake Brielle. It can be a bit hard to find…”

  They spoke of the East until late in the evening and Lady Dinah retired to bed. After breakfast the next morning, Lady Dinah was shown to the library. It was a cozy little chamber, but it was three stories high and full of books.

  “I am afraid it is not well organized. I suspect anything from your mother’s library would be on the top level. That is where my most recent additions are.”

  “Thank you, Lord Edmund.”

  Lady Dinah spent the next two days poring over the library. She did not find the missing journals on the top level or any other level, though she did find some interesting books on the history of the Western Territories and the longstanding battles with the East.

  “May I have these?” she asked Lord Edmund at dinner one night, holding out the history books.

  “Of course you may,” he said, inspecting their covers. “They provide a good history, but they are dated no doubt.”

  The next morning they left from the front entrance of Lord Edmond’s home. As they emerged from the shadows of the hills that hid Lord Edmund’s cave, they found the wizard and their horse and pony waiting.

  “I trust I shall see you again at the next Council of Wizards meeting?” Lady Dinah asked.

  “I would not miss it, my Queen,” he replied with a bow. “I should like to see Mt. Xavier again. It would be a nice change of scenery.”

&
nbsp; Lady Dinah smiled. “Thank you again, Lord Edmund. Please send word if you see any more Eastern Wizards.”

  “I shall,” he replied. Lord Edmund watched as Lady Dinah and Gordon trotted off towards the south, towards Lucerne and Lady Adeline. “Safe travels!” he called after them.

  *************

  The young men and women of Reed very much look forward to their 16th birthday for one reason: they are then permitted to frequent the local pubs and partake in the consumption of ale, wine, liquor and other various concoctions dreamed up by the bartender. No one was more eager for Fallon to turn sixteen than Gentry, however. Barely two months had passed since Fallon’s birthday and yet Gentry had already brought the young man to every single pub within the confines of the village.

  There were a handful of pubs within the Village Square, but Fallon knew that Gentry was partial to Vance’s Tavern in Corning. It was not because the drinks were particularly good or strong (they were not), or because the music was particularly lively (it was) – it was because Daria was there. Daria, the beautiful redheaded waitress with an infectious laugh, had been the object of Gentry’s affections for the better part of the year. After refusing his initial advances, the waitress finally gave in and they had been happily falling in love ever since.

  With Daria now in his life, Gentry’s dark moods became less frequent, much to the relief of his parents. Perhaps it had just been a phase, they told themselves. Perhaps they would finally have their son back.

  On a fine Hexaday evening in early Heptuly, Gentry and Fallon found themselves at Vance’s Tavern again. Fallon had spent much of the evening watching with amusement as the endless flirting match between the two love birds continued. He had never seen Gentry so eager to please and willing to bend over backwards at the slightest intimation from his redheaded love. “Look at how you drool! You are worse than Isaiah’s dog, Mobley!” teased Fallon.

  “I am not,” insisted Gentry, feigning hurt feelings. “You just wait until you find the perfect woman, Fallon, then you shall understand.”