A Darkness Forged in Fire

by Chris (chris R. ) Evans

  "Konowa means well, but he is confused about the right thing to do." The words came out in a rush, as if saying them fast mitigated the guilt she suddenly felt.

  The light refracted into the blackness and the earth moved beneath her feet. It felt as if the very ground was dissolving beneath her.

  "He must be stopped."

  There was tenseness to the voice Visyna had never heard before. She started to tell the Star of the power Konowa now possessed, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say it. "He is stubborn and a fool, but his desire is to protect the Iron Elves. I understand that desire."

  "As you did on the plains."

  It sounded like a rebuke. "I respect all life, but my loyalty remains to my land, my people, and our rightful heritage. I will do everything in my power to see that you are returned to the elfkynan, but I see no reason that others should die needlessly to achieve that goal."

  "Your lack of vision is disturbing. She will bend him to Her will, and I am not strong enough yet to stop it. It is why you were chosen." There was a long pause, and then the Star spoke again. "Perhaps a woman is too weak for this task."

  Visyna bristled at the thought. "I will not fail. When the time comes, I will do what is necessary."

  "The time is closer than you think. Another will aid you in your task."

  Before Visyna could protest, the image of the Star disappeared within a collapsing brilliance that seemed to suck the very vision from her eyes. She reached out a hand to steady herself but could find no tree to grab. She blinked several times, and seeing a faint source of light, took a step toward it. Her foot splashed down into water and she would have tumbled into the pool but for a hand that grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. Her scream was muffled by another that covered her mouth, and then gently withdrew. Visyna rubbed her eyes then opened them, and the grove and light from the campfires was visible again. She was finally able to look at the owner of the hand still on her arm.

  "Private Kritton at your service, my lady," the elf said.

  TWENTY-NINE

  It smells of the very bowels of all that is unholy," Inkermon said, holding his nose as he stood in the main entranceway to the mound.

  "A bit pungent, I'll admit," Yimt said, holding up a burning brand to look down a tunnel. "Still, beats being aboveground, in my book. Now, let's get in here and set up home before some of the others get the idea."

  Alwyn did his best to breathe through his mouth as he and the rest of the section followed Yimt down the tunnel and deeper into the mound. Alwyn doubted any of the other soldiers would be in a rush to claim the mound as a shelter.

  As they walked downward the flaming brand revealed a series of masterfully worked words along the walls. Alwyn couldn't read the language, but he sensed their purpose as some kind of protective talisman. The words flowed into shapes, and soon the walls were covered in finely carved reliefs.

  Human-like figures of majestic proportions cavorted in a great erotic orgy of limbs and other parts so that it was impossible to tell where one body ended and another began. Unlike the statue of the deity outside, these carvings were raw, unadorned by paint, the naked sandstone taking on an almost fleshlike hue as a result. Alwyn gaped, fascinated and horrified at the same time, as they entered a large room, presumably a bedchamber, although there was no furniture to be found. Feelings welled up inside him that he had felt before, but as yet had not had the chance to do anything about. He found he was breathing fast and took a long swig from his canteen, trying to look everywhere but at the walls.

  Unlike Alwyn, Yimt always seemed at ease and ready to pounce at the same time. There was something about the way he just owned the air he breathed and the space around him that other men respected, and feared, even if they couldn't say why. Alwyn knew some of the why, though, having seen the dwarf in action.

  Yimt was combing out his beard with the end of his small, wooden dagger. Every so often a bug would flutter free of the tangled mess and zip off toward one of the flaming brands that were lighting their new, temporary home.

  The smell of the cave, for it was hard not to think of it as such, was actually less foul now that they were deep inside it—either that or they were becoming used to the smell. Whatever the case, Alwyn began to think staying the night wouldn't be so bad after all.

  "Here," Yimt said, holding out one of his canteens to Inkermon, "have a swig of this, and prepare to lose some money."

  Inkermon recoiled and shook his head vigorously. "I'll thank you to keep that vile swill away from me, and not to tempt me with your sinful games of chance." He looked around at the rest of them. "Have you no shame? You sit in a room of decadent, lustful filth, but I will not. I am a man of faith."

  At this the dwarf cocked a bushy eyebrow, a feat made all the more spectacular as it disappeared under the rim of his shako. "Indeed? How is it then you come to be part of this jolly band of brothers? My sad story is too long to recount here, poor Alwyn there suffers from the stupidity of youth, no offense, lad, you'll grow out of it, and the rest of these ragged scarecrows," he said, waving a hand at the section sitting around the room, "are highwaymen, robbers, and thieves—all falsely convicted, no doubt, and press-ganged into the service. But what about you, eh? Maybe it's time we all got to know each other a bit better, seeing as we're all one big family now."

  Inkermon sniffed and spat on the ground, nowhere near Yimt, then spun around on his heel, bent low, and stomped away up a tunnel.

  "Another time then?" Yimt called after him. The other soldiers laughed and sent a few catcalls of their own after the farmer. Yimt waved them to settle down. "All right, let him be. Every man's got a right to think what he will, and that goes for the lot of you, too. But with rights comes responsibility, and one of them is to keep a good chunk of what you believe to yourself."

  There were a few puzzled stares, Alwyn's included. Yimt shook his head and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Use what little intelligence you haven't drunk away, lads. Think on it. This army has got more races than a dragon has scales, and each one's got a way of looking at the world different from the next. Take our major up there. Not only is he an elf, he comes from the other side of the ocean. And you know who lives over there, that elf-witch the Sha—"

  "Do not speak Her name!" The whole room jumped as Inkermon scrambled back through another tunnel to emerge in the room, a small white book clutched in his hand and held against his breast. "She is a pretender to the throne of the Great Father, creator of the world. To speak Her name is to call Her near. How can you sit idly by while Her abominations crawl over the earth again! Do you not see, the end is near!"

  Murmurs rose. Alwyn looked at Yimt, who was sitting very, very still. When he spoke, it was in a whisper that carried around the room like lead shot.

  "The only end that is near is yours if you keep talking like that. Your so-called Great Father is a great human father who created man in his image, not the rest of us."

  Yimt slowly rose to a standing position. Alwyn gasped as the dwarf slowly pulled his drukar from its scabbard. Inkermon saw it, too, and held the little white book out before him as if it would ward off the blow.

  "You're one of them Pure Order believers," Yimt said, his voice never rising as he took a step forward. "I figured you to be just a puritan know-it-all, but it goes deeper than that, doesn't it?"

  "I believe in the One Creator and His vision of a pure, ordered world for the peoples who live in it," Inkermon said, his voice quavering, but his eyes burning with an intensity that bordered on madness. "It is clear that His order is being challenged even as we speak. It is up to His true believers to put things right."

  "Is that so? And in that little book of yours, does it mention dwarves, orcs, and folk like that as true believers, too?"

  Inkermon sneered. "There was no need to list the lesser races, for they were not created by Him. That is why the world today is polluted with magics and cults and evil. Only He should wield such power, sayeth the scripture!"


  Alwyn thought Yimt would decapitate Inkermon then and there, but instead the dwarf actually smiled.

  "So you admit your creator was nothing more than a flouncy wizard? Way I hear it, a couple hundred years back, he and a few of his sorcerer buddies went whoring and drinking one night and made the whole thing up to impress the gals in the brothel."

  Inkermon sputtered with rage. "Blasphemy! You dirt-born slug! How dare you slander Him!"

  The drukar whistled in the air between them and stopped an inch from Inkermon's neck.

  The other soldiers were frozen. It was clear to Alwyn no one was going to stop Yimt. He was on his feet and beside the dwarf before he knew what he was doing.

  "I think you should put the drukar down, Yimt," he said. The blade hung perfectly still, a black shadow on Inkermon's shoulder. A large vein in the farmer's neck throbbed and Alwyn imagined the blood gushing out, splattering the ceiling.

  "The world would be a better place without the likes of him." Yimt's knuckles grew white as he gripped the hilt of the drukar.

  "And you'd be hung, and then who would lead our section? Besides, you said everyone was entitled to an opinion, and this is his. I'm not saying I agree with it, because I don't, but if everyone started killing people they disagreed with there wouldn't be many people left, now would there."

  Yimt blinked, then turned his head slightly and looked him in the face. Several seconds passed in complete silence. Inkermon's eyes darted wildly between him and Yimt and then down to the blade that hovered beside his neck. Finally, Yimt nodded and slowly lowered the drukar, never looking at Inkermon.

  "Go pray to your creator," Yimt muttered, turning his back to the farmer, who scrambled down the tunnel and out of sight.

  Yimt looked at each soldier in turn, then at Alwyn. He reached out a hand and patted him on the elbow.

  "Ally, not that I'm going anywhere, but if I did, I can't think of a better man to lead this section than you." With that, the dwarf sat down, leaning back against an impressive pair of carved breasts, and began taking apart his shatterbow while the other soldiers hooted at Alwyn as the next king of Calahr.

  "Leave the poor boy alone, now," Yimt said, squinting one eye and looking down the right-side barrel of his weapon. "You all know he's got the smarts, lot more than you lot put together."

  "What about me, then?" a soldier asked, his cheeks puffing out two enormous muttonchops of brown scraggly whiskers.

  Yimt looked over the barrel to his questioner, one eye only, his eyebrow threatening to disappear again under the rim of his shako. "Buuko, you couldn't dump piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel."

  "I can read well enough," Buuko said in response, sticking his chest out with pride and hooking his thumbs in his suspenders.

  More laughter greeted this, and Alwyn couldn't help but join in. Buuko, not much taller than Yimt and as scrawny as a winter chicken, opened and closed his mouth in apparent outrage, then shrugged and started cleaning his musket.

  "Make sure you do 'em right," Yimt said, addressing the entire section. "In a climate like this, the moisture will have your musket rusted away to dust inside a week if you don't get at it every day. As me grandmare used to say, keep your musket and your pecker clean and you're likely to live to a ripe old age."

  "She said that?" Alwyn asked, finding a place to sit down between Teeter, who was puffing steadily on his pipe, and Alik, who seemed to be having difficulty holding his musket and cleaning it. Alwyn leaned over and helped him steady it, getting a smile and thanks.

  "Too right she did. Full of wisdom, she was. Knew more about this world than you lot put together. Reminds me of a time once a way back. Still gnawing on sandstone and chunks of pottery. Seems there was a young miner who…"

  Alwyn smiled and began cleaning his musket as Yimt rambled on. It was a comfortable feeling. He let his gaze drift around the room and was amazed that the carvings were losing their effect on him until he saw one in particular that might or might not have included a goat. He grabbed the pricker hanging from a lanyard on his jacket and bent over his musket, working the thin steel needle into the touchhole and digging out bits of dirt. If the hole was plugged there would be no way for the spark in the pan to ignite the charge inside the barrel. It amazed him something so small could make such a difference. He looked over at Yimt and was pleased to realize that went for people, as well.

  "Now, who wants to live dangerously?"

  Alwyn looked at the dwarf, detecting more than a hint of mischief in his voice.

  Yimt dipped a hand into his upturned shako and removed a well-used deck of cards from inside. "Ante up, ladies. Elfkynan siasters are worth twelve to the Imperial sovereign or four colonial mints, nickel-silver, that is, for you shady types that have a pocket full of copper."

  THIRTY

  A huge shadow loomed over Alwyn, and he looked up to see Private Hrem Vulhber crouched over him. "Corporal Arkhorn around? I've got last watch and he said he'd donate one of his boys to stand guard with me."

  "I'll keep you company for a bit, Hrem," Alwyn said, standing up and then looking over to where Yimt was reclining against one of the more interesting carvings.

  Yimt opened one eye. "I was thinking Inkermon could use a little fresh air, but seeing as you're volunteering I guess it can't hurt. Just do me a favor and stay out of trouble. Hrem, don't let him shoot an officer out checking the lines…unless you really have to, of course."

  Hrem smiled and nodded. "As long as you're down here, I think the officers can walk about safely up there."

  "The insubordination," Yimt said, yawning and stretching. He waved them away. "Begone then, and do us a favor and don't thump about up there; some folk are trying to sleep."

  Alwyn grabbed his shako and musket and followed Hrem up through the tunnels and out into the night.

  There were no stars in the sky, and a warm mist rose from the ground, limiting visibility to a few feet at best. His need to stretch his legs diminished somewhat, but he wasn't going to turn back now.

  They met a weasel-faced soldier as they stepped outside. Hrem made a small noise in his throat and kept on walking, pointedly not bothering to introduce him to Alwyn.

  "Pleasant watch, ladies," the soldier called after them.

  "Who was that?" Alwyn asked, quickening his pace to keep up with Hrem's huge strides.

  "Trouble. Some people are born bad, others get made that way. Private Zwitty's both."

  "Oh."

  Hrem looked over and clapped a huge hand on his shoulder, knocking Alwyn off balance.

  "Not to worry; you listen to the Little Mad One and you'll be fine. I'm sure he's probably told you, but when you have a problem, you face it head-on. A fellow like Zwitty, or Kritton, you always look in the eye and you don't blink."

  "Must be nice to be as big as you, though," Alwyn said, looking up at the towering soldier beside him.

  Hrem laughed, a delicate sound that made Alwyn smile. He was glad it was dark enough Hrem couldn't see it.

  "Your corporal is this side of four feet nothing, but you find me a soldier in this regiment, hell, in this army, who'd have the stones to take him on. It isn't size, Alwyn, it's what's inside that counts."

  They walked in silence for a few minutes, carefully picking their way through the camp and down the slope toward the river that Alwyn still hadn't seen. He certainly smelled it, though, a pungent, stagnant odor growing stronger with each step. He was beginning to worry Hrem would lead them right into it when a voice called out to them up ahead.

  "Who goes there?"

  "It's me, Kess, come to relieve you," Hrem said. He yawned and started to topple backward before catching himself.

  "About time, too, I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me down here," Kess said, walking into view to stand in front of them. In the dark and the swirling mist he was little more than a shadow. "Who's this then?" he asked.

  "Alwyn Renwar, A Company," Alwyn said, holding out his hand. An arm came forwa
rd with a hand on it and Alwyn was relieved to feel real, warm flesh when he shook it. "I couldn't sleep so I thought I would get a bit of air."

  Kess stepped forward and Alwyn could just make out a pair of muttonchops and a very crooked nose.

  "To each his own, I say. Kester Harkon, pleased to meet you." He pulled back and waved his arm in the direction of the river. "Watch your step down there; it's all mud."

  "Will do, thanks, Kess," Hrem said, moving off toward the river.

  Kess grunted and walked away. Alwyn followed Hrem by walking through the gap he made in the mist.

  "We're not likely to see a thing," Hrem said a moment later. He'd stopped walking and Alwyn bumped into him.

  Alwyn looked around and saw nothing but gray swirling mist against a deep-well darkness. "Probably not," he agreed. Would, he wondered, anything see them?

  Hrem yawned again. "It'll be dawn soon, and I haven't slept a wink."

  "I could stand watch for a bit," Alwyn said before really thinking about what he had just offered.

  "You haven't slept either."

  "I don't think I can, not right now anyway. Just tell me what to do if a corporal comes to check the sentries."

  There was a thud and a deep sigh as Hrem stretched himself out on the ground. "Not to worry, Alwyn. The only sneak you couldn't hear coming was Kritton, and he's not a problem anymore. Serves the devilish bastard right if you ask me."

  "Fair enough," Alwyn said, hoping his voice didn't sound as worried as he suddenly felt.

  "You're a grand fellow, Alwyn, no matter what they say about you," Hrem said through one long yawn.

  "Who says what about me?"

  "…don't you pay it another thought…damn fine lad…bit of a fragile sort, but tough enough…you'll make a soldier yet…"

  Alwyn wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult. Or both. A high-pitched snore rose up from the ground where Hrem had fallen asleep, indicating the conversation was over.