by James Wolf
‘You will not leave me this time,’ Alyssa hissed. ‘Perhaps you could become my slave! Do my bidding, and my pleasure,’ her eyes flashed. ‘It may be hard on you at first, but I think you’d learn to enjoy it. We both know, deep down, you want me.’
‘The only thing I feel deep down for you,’ Logan raised his leg high, chambering his knee against his chest, ‘is pity.’ Logan thrust his foot out to the side. Breaking the lock and smashing the door open.
The guards came running down the corridor and rushed into the King’s private chamber, the same Defenders that had flooded the room earlier. Logan stepped back into a fighting stance from Stag Knows no Fear, side on and right foot forward, with his hand on his sheathed sword and his weight back on his left leg. In an instant the Sodan could draw his blade and explode forward. The Defenders took one look at that stance, and the fury in Logan’s face, and they made sure to get well out of his way.
Chapter 16 – The Hand of Fire
Taem, Forgrun and Baek were eager to go and explore Dolam, as Hirandar left them to go off to the library. The first thing the friends saw was the Cathedral of the Light, with its world renowned fresco ceiling. The trio of friends stood in awe under that breathtaking dome. Taem gazed up in wonder at how the ceiling was a huge painting that showed the Light giving life to the first Sartorians and Rhungars.
‘I still find it amazing,’ Baek said, ‘that men can build such a thing.’
‘This dome be a good piece o’ engineering,’ Forgrun said reluctantly.
Taem saw the pillars and the floor were gleaming marble. He gaped at the statues of pure gold, and the walls adorned with precious stones. But amongst all the wealth, there was the plainest of altars, fashioned of ancient stone.
The companions left the cathedral to tour the winding cobbled streets of the city. Every which way they turned the streets rose up and down with the lay of the land. As the warriors approached the Rhungari Quarter in the north-east of Dolam, the streets grew more crowded. Over the throng Taem could see the high stone wall that enclosed the Rhungari Quarter, see how it was unlike anything Men could fashion. He marvelled at how it was not visibly sealed together in any way, but appeared to be just one piece of stone.
Taem felt delving fingers brush under his cloak. He slapped them away as his hand went to his sword hilt. He scoured the heaving crowd, as a hawk sweeps for mice. He caught a cloaked individual dogging Baek’s footsteps up ahead. Taem rushed up to his friend as the pickpocket lifted the Aborle’s purse.
‘No you don’t,’ Taem clamped a hand on the pickpocket’s wrist, and snatched Baek’s leather purse from the thief’s hand. Taem was surprised that the wrist was so thin and delicate.
Baek swivelled, and Taem passed the purse back to his startled friend.
‘What ’ave we ’ere then?’ Forgrun grabbed the short crook round the throat, as other walkers stopped to watch.
‘Stop!’ A female voice squealed. ‘You’re hurting me!’
‘Eh?’ Forgrun pulled back the crook’s hood. The Rhungar released his grip when he saw it was a girl. ‘What? Aye! A girl? Forgive me, I nay be meanin’ to hurt yhee–’
The pickpocket kneed the Rhungar in the groin hard.
‘Oooohhh,’ Forgrun winced, as the pickpocket scampered off, evading the grasping hands of people who had seen what had happened. Taem and Baek let her run off as they reached out to steady their trembling friend.
‘By Odrin that ’urt!’ Forgrun gasped, as his companions got him walking again, each with a shoulder under one of the Rhungar’s gigantic arms.
By the time the friends reached the gilded gate to the Rhungari Quarter, Forgrun had shrugged off the blow.
‘If that sneak nay be a girl,’ Forgrun snarled, ‘she do be in fer a knuckle sandwich!’ The Rhungar mashed one fist into the other palm. ‘O’ course, I be nay hittin’ a woman so I let her go.’
‘We know,’ Taem slapped the Rhungar’s shoulder. ‘You did the right thing.’ Taem could see the blow had hurt Forgrun’s pride more than his crown jewels.
‘Aye.’
‘How do you build things like this?’ Baek ran his fingers over the smooth walls of the Rhungari Quarter. ‘No mortar, no joins, just one single piece of rock?’
‘That be secret,’ Forgrun tapped the side of his nose.
‘I do not understand it,’ Baek murmured, as he gawked at the shut Rhungari gates, strapped with burnished silver. ‘Why do people steal from others?’
‘There jus’ be some treach’rous scum!’ Forgrun glowered. ‘Specially roun’ Dolam!’
‘And,’ Taem said, as Forgrun went to talk with the Rhungar gatekeeper, ‘there are others who are so poor, that the only way they can eat is to thieve.’
Baek gasped, ‘But there are so many rich people round here! Surely, if everyone gave a little to everyone else, there would be plenty to go around?’
‘If only everyone thought like you, my friend.’ Taem smiled.
It took much deliberation on Forgrun’s part to try and get Taem and Baek inside the Rhungari Quarter.
‘Non-Rhungars do only be allowed on official business,’ the Rhungar gatekeeper said. He was much smaller than Forgrun, and he wore bright green and gold clothes. ‘But I trust ye look o’ ye Aritian,’ the gatekeeper pointed his axe at Taem. ‘Ye Aritian can pass, but nay Aborle can do enter ‘ere.’
Baek frowned at the gatekeeper, and crossed his arms.
‘Well,’ Taem held his palms wide. ‘If Baek’s not allowed, then I won’t go either.’
‘Do yhee nay hear me, Man?’ The gatekeeper said harshly. ‘Yhee can pass.’
‘If my friend cannot go in,’ Taem gestured to Baek, ‘then I am no longer interested.’
‘Suit yheeself,’ the gatekeeper said gruffly.
‘But Taem,’ Forgrun said eagerly, ‘there do be so many wonders I want ter show yhee?’
‘Go on Taem,’ Baek nodded, ‘I’ll just wait out here.’
Taem was tempted, and he really did want to see the Rhungari Quarter.
‘No,’ Taem walked away from the Rhungari gates. ‘Let’s go friends. There’s plenty of other things to see in Dolam.’
The warriors followed the imposing curtain wall of Castle Dolam, but they could only catch glimpses of the courtyard and keep within, through open gates. The three companions strolled over the Grendric River, on a spectacular white bridge, and through the Royal Park. To Baek’s delight, deer lived within the walled park. The companions tried out the famous public baths, in the north of the city, and walked on through the main market square, a hive of activity, populated with stall sellers, entertainers and pickpockets.
‘There be horse racing here on Wednesday night,’ Forgrun stopped to read a poster. ‘But who could race an ’orse? Surely, nay man be faster runner than horse?’
‘Surely not,’ Taem grinned, as Baek wandered on.
‘You there!’ A local thug yelled. ‘Squinty eyes!’ He sneered, as he and half a dozen mates swaggered over to Baek. ‘What you doin’ ’ere, freak?’
‘Nothing,’ Baek said earnestly.
‘Nothing?’ The thug sneered, ‘It looks like you’re walking through my square? And it’ll cost ya to walk through ’ere.’
The thug squared up to Baek, leaning his face in close to the Aborle’s, and tensing his shoulders.
‘Will it?’ Baek said seriously. ‘How much does it cost?’ Baek reached for his purse.
‘Hey?’ The thug said in surprise. ‘Oh… umm… two gold pieces.’
‘With whose authority do you speak?’ Taem stepped up alongside Baek, and deliberately put his hand on his sword hilt.
‘Ummm,’ the thug stepped back. At first glance the thug had little to fear. Taem was less than average height, broad for a Man, but he looked young and innocent. The thug saw the blond man carried a sword – nothing out of the ordinary – but it was the way he carried the sword that made the thug hesitate. And there was a ferocity in the swordsman’s blue eyes.
‘
Forget it mister, all right?’ The thug edged back, spreading his arms.
Baek watched on, with a puzzled look on his face.
‘Oi!’ Forgrun roared as he stomped forward. ‘Bully boy!’
The thug trembled as he set eyes on the monstrous Rhungar, and the great axe in his giant hands.
Taem leapt forward, drawing his sword, and cut the heavy purse from the thug’s belt. The thug froze, as his purse landed on the cobbles, and Taem’s blade point hovered an inch from his ribs. The thug’s mates backed off, watching the swordsman with fear in their eyes.
‘Do not move,’ Taem swung Estellarum down, cutting through the thug’s belt, causing the thug’s trousers to drop to his ankles.
All the watching people burst into laughter, as the thug stared at Taem’s sword with a look of dread. The thug patted his belly to check for blood, and when he found none that scared him even more.
‘Throw me your purse,’ Taem said, and the thug reached a trembling hand down to pick up the leather purse and toss it to Taem.
Taem caught it in his right hand, and passed it to the nearest street urchin.
The boy clutched the purse, and looked at Taem in wonder as he felt the weight of the coins.
‘Now be gone!’ Taem glared at the thug.
‘Unless yhee wan’ ter meet me right hook,’ Forgrun brandished his huge fist, ‘yhee best be runnin’ home ter cry ter yhee mammy!’
‘Leg it, lads!’ The thug screamed to his gang, as he gathered up his trousers. They fled from the market square, as the watching traders jeered.
‘What just happened?’ Baek asked.
‘Hah! Hah! Hah!’ Forgrun bellowed as he walked on. ‘Yhee Aborle do be so gullible! Yhee do thought they thugs do work for ye city? Hah! Hah! Hah!’
Baek’s face went blank, as the Rhungar laughed.
‘They were robbing you, my friend,’ Taem placed a hand on Baek’s shoulder, before he strolled on to join Forgrun.
‘Oh...’ The Aborle went a deep shade of crimson. ‘I see,’ he mumbled, as he followed after his companions. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever understand this city.’
Once through the market square, the companions strolled through the villas and harbours of the North Bank and crossed the River Bodium into Southside. They walked amongst the docklands through into the Entertainment Quarter. By the evening, the three friends were back inside the Jester Inn.
Taem, Baek and Forgrun saw Hirandar in the common room, speaking to Bessie about dinner.
‘Hello, boys,’ Hirandar said warmly. ‘I’ve only just got back myself. Good day?’
‘Great day!’ Baek beamed.
‘Aye!’ Forgrun said, as Taem smiled and nodded.
‘Good to hear,’ Hirandar said. ‘Come on, let’s go back to the room, and you can tell me all about it.’
They found Logan sat waiting for them in the darkened Sceptre Room, hidden in the shadows as he gazed into the firelight. Despite the darkness, Taem saw something was troubling Logan. Hirandar also picked up on Logan’s mood as they all sat down for dinner, but Forgrun and Baek still chuckled away as they told the Wizard about their day. Logan did not speak as they ate.
Baek had just finished telling Hirandar about the thugs in the market square, when Logan said, ‘Balthus has changed. He is not care-free as he once was, and he has people pulling him on strings every which way.’
The atmosphere at the table became serious.
‘Alyssa?’ Hirandar asked.
Logan nodded.
‘Always,’ Hirandar said, ‘she has had her claws into her brother. She is beautiful like the Moon Shadow Orchid, and just as deadly.’
‘Even more so,’ Logan said, ‘now she has found a maestro to unlock her magic.’
Hirandar’s face became severe, ‘Regardless of how people said Alyssa once was, by the time I met her she had fallen into wicked ways. Alyssa had the potential to become a Wizard of average strength, and I had the authority to send her to the Fortress of Magic for training – but I refused. I knew no good would come of it.’
‘A slight she has not forgotten,’ Logan said warily. ‘There is also a Wizard advising King Balthus, called Isornel, and I distrusted him the moment I first set eyes on him. I sense a darkness within Isornel.’
Taem could tell Hirandar was worried by the intensity in her blue eyes.
‘Isornel claims to be an apprentice of the Lord of Storms,’ Logan told Hirandar.
‘If that is true,’ Hirandar said softly, ‘then Isornel is a servant of an old enemy of mine. No doubt, Isornel has embraced some of his Maestro’s… darker ways.’
‘This Isornel is evil,’ Logan said. ‘I sense it in him, the darkness of the Maliven.’
‘Like Calagar before him,’ Hirandar murmured, ‘the great Lord of Storms.’
Taem shuddered, and he saw Forgrun was trembling and Baek had gone pale.
‘Who is this Lord of Storms?’ Taem whispered with dread.
‘A long time ago,’ Hirandar said, ‘A bright-eyed young man, named Calagar, came to Calledron, and there was a great Spark within him. Calagar had heard of the mighty Firefist, and he sought me out, begged to be my apprentice.’ Hirandar snorted. ‘I was flattered, reckless and proud, and Calagar was an eager student. In fact, he was a maestro’s dream. He learnt quicker than any of The Order believed possible, devouring all the knowledge. Arrogant I was,’ Hirandar shook her head, ‘Calagar’s progress was so rapid that I believed I must have been a great maestro, and I revealed all the secrets of magic to him. At nights, when all the other apprentices were asleep, he would be in the Great Library, researching. During the days off, he would trek deep into the wilderness, always alone. Within six months he rivalled the power of a Keyholder. Within a year, he had the magic to sit on the Celestial Circle. The progress was unheard of. And of course, I was praised for being his maestro.’
By the way Hirandar was speaking, Taem was reminded of when they had talked in the Dredgen. When the Wizard had said how great magic could be a burden.
‘Calagar quickly became a famous hero too,’ Hirandar said, ‘Between us we destroyed an entire Narg Horde with lightning and fire, and The Order toasted how magic had risen to be the greatest power in Hathlore.’ Hirandar shook her head. ‘I was a fool. I will never be that naïve again. I seemed to have overlooked the nastier side of Calagar. He never laughed. Calagar was spiteful, envious and cruel, and he was ruthlessly ambitious. I must have been walking around with my eyes shut. Calagar was a charismatic man – powerful and famous – and he soon gathered a strong following. Other Wizards of The Order began to notice, how anyone that Calagar took as a disciple became harsher and colder.’
‘I spent the summer of Eight Four Five walking in the World’s End Mountains,’ Hirandar glanced secretively at Logan, ‘searching for an ancient prophecy. When I returned to Calledron in the autumn, I sensed the darkness that had grown there. The Fortress of Magic was full of rumours of strange lights in Calagar’s tower by night, of black ceremonies and Dark powers. There had been a string of suspicious deaths. And there were whisperings that Calagar had begun to speak of the closeness of Light and Dark. On the eve of my return, I gathered all the High Wizards of the Celestial Circle, and we set out for Calagar’s tower in the wall of the Fortress. We crossed the courtyard, and Calagar strode forth from his tower, alone, to meet us. I could see the change in him, from the young man I once knew. I remember the shadow in his eyes. And I sensed the terrible power within him, knew that he was a match of the entire Celestial Circle.’
‘Calagar,’ the Sceptrebearer, Ymain, said, ‘we are entering your tower.’
‘You will call me The Lord of Storms,’ Calagar said. ‘And none may enter my tower.’
I can still remember now, the shiver that voice sent down my spine.
‘Do you deny the Sceptrebearer?’ Ymain said. ‘And the Celestial Circle?’
‘A new order has risen to replace the old,’ Calagar said, and I heard the lust for power in his voice.
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‘What do you mean, Calagar?’ The Watcher of the Flames, Kadoth, raised his staff.
‘Join me, sister,’ Calagar said to me, ignoring all the other High Wizards. ‘We will form this new order, together. We will rule Hathlore from the Dredgen to the Worlds End. The power is ours. Yours and mine! There are none who can stand against us.’ Calagar looked at the other wizards with contempt. ‘Do you not see, Hirandar?’ He said. ‘You can help all the peoples of this world. Bring them peace with your wise and controlling hand. There are some who do not know what is best for them. But we will tell them the way it should be! Force them to understand, if needs be – it’s for their own good! You and I will be the rulers of Hathlore. Nations will fall at our feet... or they will be destroyed. The strong must rule the weak!’
‘In that moment, I saw Calagar for the evil he was. The fact I had unleashed this madness on the world – that I had been so blind – made me sick to my stomach.’ Hirandar shook her head. ‘I looked around me at the rest of the Celestial Circle, and saw they all knew I was the only one who could stop him.’
‘Careful, great Lord of Storms,’ I said. ‘You are not the first to speak in such a way. I know of other great warriors and wizards that spoke like that, long ago. It was those traitors that started the Great War of the Dark. You are not the first to speak of such tyranny!’
‘Fool!’ Calagar hissed at me.
‘I looked around the Fortress’s courtyard, and saw Calagar’s disciples appear from the shadows.’
‘Ymain,’ Calagar said. ‘Give me the Sceptre.’
‘Never!’ Ymain said.
‘Calagar obliterated her with a blast of Anti-Fire. The Dark Fire is the most evil of spells, and Calagar’s turning from the Light was laid bare for us all to see.’
‘Destroy them!’ Calagar howled, and the battle that followed was the greatest use of magic that Hathlore had felt since the Great War of the Dark.’
‘Calagar killed most of the Celestial Circle that night, but I managed to best him. I wounded him, but he got away. And that is the darkest chapter in The Order of the Sceptre’s history. The few Wizards of the Order that remained, voted to cover up this dark secret. It was decided that if people knew the truth, all trust in wizards would be gone, forever. I did not agree with keeping such a secret. I believed the truth should be known by all, that to cover it up would make it even worse. But I was out-voted. They wanted me to be the Sceptrebearer, to preside over this lie – but I refused. I stepped away from The Order, as I could not stomach their deceit. That was the beginning of The Decline, and now magic fails in the world.’
