He gazed at the town huddled behind its walls of gray stone, his left hand gripped tight around a long wooden staff. He had not been here in over five years, not since the great battle against Mhalek and his horde of orcs, and then Dun Licinia had been little more than a square keep ringed by a wooden wall, an outpost named in honor of the Dux of the Northerland.
Now it was a prosperous town of four thousand people, fortified by a wall of stone. Ridmark saw the towers of a small keep within the town, alongside the twin bell towers of a stone church and the round tower of a Magistrius. Cultivated fields and pastures ringed the town on three sides, and the River Marcaine flowed south past its western wall, making its way through the wooded hills of the Northerland to the River Moradel in the south.
Ridmark’s father had always said there was good mining and logging to be had on the edges of the Northerland, if men were bold enough to live within reach of the orc tribes and dark creatures that lurked in the Wilderland.
And in the shadow of the black mountain that rose behind Ridmark.
He walked for the town’s northern gate, swinging his staff in his left hand, his gray cloak hanging loose around him. When he had last stood in this valley, the slain orcs of Mhalek’s horde had carpeted the ground as far as he could see, the stench of blood and death filling his nostrils. It pleased him to see that something had grown here, a place of prosperity and plenty.
Perhaps no one would recognize him.
Freeholders and the freeholders’ sons toiled in the fields, breaking up the soil in preparation for the spring planting. The men cast him wary looks, looks that lingered long after he had passed. He could not blame them. A man wrapped in a gray cloak and hood, a wooden staff in his left hand and a bow slung over his shoulder, made for a dangerous-looking figure.
Especially since he kept his hood up.
But if he kept his hood up, they would not see the brand that marred the left side of his face.
He came to Dun Licinia’s northern gate. The wall itself stood fifteen feet high, and two octagonal towers of thirty feet stood on either side of the gate itself. A pair of men-at-arms in chain mail stood at the gate, keeping watch on the road and the wooded hills ringing the valley. He recognized the colors upon their tabards. They belonged to Sir Joram Agramore, a knight Ridmark had known. They had been friends, once.
Before Mhalek and his horde.
“Hold,” said one of the men-at-arms, a middle-aged man with the hard-bitten look of a veteran. “State your business.”
Ridmark met the man’s gaze. “I wish to enter the town, purchase supplies, and depart before sundown.”
“Aye?” said the man-at-arms, eyes narrowing. “Sleep in the hills, do you?”
“I do,” said Ridmark. “It’s comfortable, if you know how.”
“Who are you, then?” said the man-at-arms. He jerked his head at the other soldier, and the man disappeared into the gatehouse. “Robber? Outlaw?”
“Perhaps I’m an anchorite,” said Ridmark.
The man-at-arms snorted. “Holy hermits don’t carry weapons. They trust in the Dominus Christus to protect them from harm. You look like the sort to place his trust in steel.”
He wasn’t wrong about that.
Ridmark spread his arms. “Upon my oath, I simply wish to purchase supplies and leave without causing any harm. I will swear this upon the name of God and whatever saints you wish to invoke.”
Three more men-at-arms emerged from the gatehouse.
“What’s your name?” said the first man-at-arms.
“Some call me the Gray Knight,” said Ridmark.
The first man frowned, but the youngest of the men-at-arms stepped forward.
“I’ve heard of you!” said the younger man. “When my mother journeyed south on pilgrimage to Tarlion, beastmen attacked her caravan. You drove them off! I…”
“Hold,” said the first man, scowling. “Show your face. Honest men have no reason to hide their faces.”
“Very well,” said Ridmark. He would not lie. Not even about this.
He drew back his cowl, exposing the brand of the broken sword upon his left cheek and jaw.
A ripple of surprise went through the men.
“You’re…” said the first man. He lifted his spear. “What is your name?”
“My name,” said Ridmark, “is Ridmark Arban.”
The men-at-arms looked at each other, and Ridmark rebuked himself. Coming here had been foolish. Better to have purchased supplies from the outlying farms or a smaller village, rather than coming to Dun Licinia.
But he had not expected the town to grow so large.
“Ridmark Arban,” said the older man-at-arms. He looked at one of the other men. “You. Go to the castle, and find Sir Joram.” One of the men ran off, chain mail flashing in the sunlight.
“Are you arresting me?” said Ridmark. Perhaps it would be better to simply leave.
The first man opened his mouth again, closed it.
“You think he made the friar disappear?” said the younger man, the one who had mentioned his mother. “But he’s the Gray Knight! They…”
“The Gray Knight is a legend,” said the first man, “and you, Sir…” He scowled and started over. “And you, Ridmark Arban, should speak with Sir Joram. That is that.”
“So be it,” said Ridmark.
A dark thought flitted across his mind. If he attacked them, he might well overpower them. Their comrades would pursue him. Perhaps they would kill him.
And he could rest at last…
Ridmark shook off the notion and waited.
A short time later two men approached and spoke in low voices to the first man-at-arms.
“You will accompany us,” he said.
Ridmark nodded and walked through the gates of Dun Licinia, the men-at-arms escorting him.
###
Calliande opened her eyes.
She saw nothing but utter blackness, felt nothing but the cold stone beneath her back, its chill soaking through her robes. She took a deep breath, her throat and tongue dry and rough. Something soft and clinging covered her face and throat, and she tried to pull it off. But her shaking hands would not obey, and only after five tries did she reach her face, her fingers brushing her cheek and jaw.
She could not see anything in the blackness, but she recognized the feeling of the delicate threads she plucked from her face.
Cobwebs. She was pulling cobwebs from her jaw.
A wave of terrible exhaustion went through her, and a deeper darkness swallowed Calliande.
###
Dreams danced across her mind like foam driven across a raging sea.
She saw herself arguing with men in white robes, their voices raised in anger, their faces blurring into mist whenever she tried to look at them.
A great battle, tens of thousands of armored men striving against a massive horde of blue-skinned orcs, great half-human, half-spider devils on their flanks, packs of beastmen savaging the knights in their armor. Tall, gaunt figures in pale armor led the horde, their eyes burning with blue flame, glittering swords in their hands.
The sight of them filled her with terror, with certainty that they would devour the world.
“It is the only way,” she heard herself tell the men in white robes, their faces dissolving into mist as she tried to remember their names. “This is the only way. I have to do this. Otherwise it will be forgotten, and it will all happen again. And we might not be able to stop him next time.”
She heard the distant sound of dry, mocking laughter.
A thunderous noise filled her ears, the sound of a slab of stone slamming over the entrance to a tomb.
“It is the only way,” Calliande told the men in white robes.
“Is it?”
A shadow stood in their midst, long and dark and cold, utterly cold.
“You,” whispered Calliande.
“Little girl,” whispered the shadow. “Little child, presuming to wield power you cannot understand.
I am older than you. I am older than this world. I made the high elves dance long before your pathetic kindred ever crawled across the hills.” The shadow drew closer, devouring the men in the white robes. “You don’t know who I truly am. For if you did…you would run. You would run screaming. Or you would fall on your knees and worship me.”
“No,” said Calliande. “I stopped you once before.”
“You did,” said the shadow. “But I have been stopped many times. Never defeated. I always return. And in your pride and folly, you have ensured that I shall be victorious.”
The shadow filled everything, and Calliande sank into darkness.
###
Her eyes shot open with a gasp, the cobwebs dancing around her lips, her heart hammering against her ribs. Again a violent spasm went through her limbs, her muscles trembling, her head pulsing with pain.
Bit by bit Calliande realized that she was ravenous, that her throat was parched with thirst.
And she was no longer in the darkness.
A faint blue glow touched her eyes. She saw a vaulted stone ceiling overhead, pale and eerie in the blue light. The air smelled musty and stale, as if it had not been breathed in a very long time.
She pressed her hands flat at her sides, felt cold, smooth stone beneath them.
On the third try she sat up, her head spinning, her hair falling against her shoulders.
She lay upon an altar of stone, or perhaps a sarcophagus. The altar stood in the center of a stone nave, thick pillars supporting the arched roof. The blue light came from the far end of the nave, near an archway containing a set of stairs.
Calliande sat motionless for a moment, listening to the silence.
She had no idea how she had gotten here. Nor, for that matter, did she know where she was.
And, with a growing sense of panic, she realized she could not remember who she was.
Calliande, her name was Calliande. She knew that much. But the details of her past turned to mist even as she tried to recall them. Shattered, broken images danced through her mind. Men in white robes, warriors with eyes of blue flame, armies of blue-skinned orcs…but all of it slithered away from her grasp.
Something, she realized, had gone terribly wrong.
“They were supposed to be here,” she whispered, her voice cracked and rasping. “They were supposed to wait here.”
But who?
She didn’t know.
Her panic grew, her hands scrabbling over the altar’s stone surface. After a moment she realized that she was looking for something. A…staff? Yes, that was it. A staff.
Why?
Calliande looked around in desperation, her panic growing.
“They were supposed to be here,” she said again.
But through her fear, her mind noted some practical problems. She was alone in a strange place, her stomach was clenching with hunger, and she was so thirsty her head was spinning. Despite whatever had happened to her, she could not remain here and wait for someone to find her.
Calliande took a deep breath, braced herself on the edge of the altar, and stood. Her boots clicked against the stone floor, and her legs felt as if they had been made of wet string. Yet she did not fall, and after a moment she took a step forward.
Something brushed her left arm and fell to the floor.
She looked down at herself and saw that she wore a robe of green trimmed with gold upon the sleeves and hems, and the left sleeve had fallen off, exposing the pale skin of her arm. Once it must have been a magnificent garment, but now it was worn and brittle, the seams disintegrating. The leather of her belt and boots was dry and crumbling, and the few steps she had taken had already split her right boot open.
The clothes looked centuries old.
Her fear redoubled. Was she dead? Had she been buried alive?
Another part of her mind, the cold part that had urged her to find food and water, pointed out that a dead woman would not feel nearly as hungry as she did. Had not the Dominus Christus eaten food in front of his disciples to prove that he was not a spirit?
Whatever had happened to Calliande, she was still alive.
But she needed to take action to stay that way.
She crossed the nave, her boots crumbling further with every step. A thick layer of dust covered the floor, and she glimpsed more cobwebs stretched between the heavy pillars supporting the ceiling. No other footprints marked the dust. It was clear that no one had entered this chamber in a long time. Soot stained the pillars, and here and there Calliande saw piles of burned wood that had once been furniture.
Had this place caught fire?
She saw the first bones after that.
Three skeletons lay in the dust nearby, clad in rusted armor, swords and maces lying near their bony hands. She saw the marks of violence upon their bones. Plainly a battle had been fought here, long ago, and it had been followed by a fire.
How long had she been lying in this place of death?
Calliande reached the archway at the far end of the nave. A skeleton lay slumped against the stairs, clad in the ragged remnants of a robe.
A white robe.
She remembered the image from her dream, and reached to touch the bones.
As she did, the blue light brightened, and a specter appeared on the stairs.
Calliande took a step back in alarm, but the specter made no move to harm her. It looked like an old man in white robes, his head encircled by a tangled mane of gray hair, his eyes deep and heavy and sad.
“Forgive me, mistress,” said the specter.
“You can see me?” said Calliande. “Who are you?”
“Forgive me, for we have failed in our sacred charge,” said the specter. “The Tower of Vigilance is overrun. The warring sons of the old king brought their foolish quarrel here, and the Tower is taken. I wished us to remain neutral, but the others thought differently…and our Order has paid for it.”
“Answer me!” said Calliande. “Who are you? Why am I here?”
But the specter kept talking, and Calliande realized it wasn’t really there. Or, rather, it was not a spirit or a ghost. Rather, it was a spell, a final message to her.
Left by the man whose bones now lay moldering at her feet.
“I have no doubt they would kill you simply out of spite,” said the old man, “and I have my suspicions of the darker forces behind the strife. But I have activated the defenses of the vault. Sealed it from the inside.” He took a deep breath. “Only you can open it.”
“But that means…” said Calliande.
That meant the old man had sealed himself inside the vault.
And to judge from the skeleton, he never left.
“Do not mourn for me,” said the old man, “for my course is run. I am wounded unto death.” She saw the spreading crimson stain across his white robes, and realized that he had been wounded. “You will be safe here, until you awaken.”
He closed his eyes and shuddered with pain.
“Mistress, I beg, listen to me,” said the old man. “You were right. You were always right, and I should have listened to you as a young man. This war between the Pendragon princes…no, it did not occur on its own. They were manipulated into it. Mistress, beware.” His voice grew thicker, his breathing harsher. “The bearer…the bearer of the shadow. You were right about him, too. This was his doing. Everything has been his doing…and he has been laboring in the darkness for centuries before Malahan Pendragon raised the first stone of Tarlion itself. Mistress, please, beware…he will come for you…he…”
The specter vanished into nothingness.
And the blue glow faded.
With a surge of alarm Calliande realized the glow had been part of the spell. And now that the spell’s message had been delivered, the light would fade away.
Leaving her alone in the darkness.
“No!” she said, her voice echoing off the walls.
The blue light faded away a moment later, leaving her in utter blackness.
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About the Author
Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.
He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works.
Visit his website at:
http://www.jonathanmoeller.com
Visit his technology blog at:
http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/screed
Contact him at:
[email protected]
You can sign up for his email newsletter here, or watch for news on his Facebook page.
Other books by the author
The Frostborn Series
Frostborn: The Gray Knight
The Orc's Tale (Tales of the Frostborn short story)
The Third Soul Series
The Testing
The Assassins
The Blood Shaman
The High Demon
The Burning Child
The Outlaw Adept
The Black Paladin
The Tomb of Baligant
The Third Soul Omnibus One
The Third Soul Omnibus Two
Computer Beginner's Guides
The Ubuntu Beginner's Guide
The Windows Command Line Beginner's Guide
The Linux Command Line Beginner's Guide
The Ubuntu Desktop Beginner's Guide
The Windows 8 Beginner's Guide
The Linux Mint Beginner's Guide
The Ghosts Series
Child of the Ghosts
Ghost in the Flames
Ghost in the Blood
Ghost in the Storm
Ghost in the Stone
Ghost in the Forge
The Orc's Tale Page 3
