The Olvion Reality (The Chronicles of Olvion Book 1)

by Larry Robbins

  I was close to tears as I descended the stairs from Ruguer’s private apartments. Warriors along the way greeted me with the Olvioni salute and showed hurt in their eyes when I did not return it. What could I do? I was no longer deserving of the honor and I wasn’t going to explain it to every person I met. I reached the main level and crossed over to the opposite side of the castle to go back upstairs to my little apartment. Dwan was gone, probably working with her fellow healers on preparations for the hostilities to come. Tinker was sitting on the little ledge which lined our small window, gazing out at the enemy camp. I stared at her, angry now that she had put me in this position. How certain could I be that what she was having me do was the correct thing? Enough to lose my position as Division Commander and lose my status as a warrior? Really?

  I glared at her across the room. She had not even spoken to me. I reflected on our past together and recalled the one time that I had actually heard a word in my head that surely had come from her. When we first encountered the Greys, the day that I freed Dwan and Vynn she had actually formed the word “Fight” in my thoughts. It was the only real word she’d ever used. The rest had always been emotions and feelings. Hints, really. Nothing more. I crossed the room angrily and reached out with both hands to roughly grab her.

  I checked myself just in time. My hands were paused an inch from where she was sitting raised up on her haunches and looking directly at me. Her long and beautiful tail, which was usually perpetually in motion unless she was asleep now stood straight up behind her little body, still and spiked.

  I closed my eyes and forced myself to take a deep, cleansing breath and get a grip. I reminded myself that, without this little creature, I would probably be a dead and desiccated husk lying somewhere under the Olvioni sky. She had pulled me from my fear-induced stupor, led me to food and water and, finally to other people. She had saved my life on several occasions. I recalled that day when she had looked directly at me and let me know about our…connection… to each other. And how she communicated to me that she had a type of love for me.

  Without thinking, I smiled. Her tail went from spiky to lush and began its usual graceful swishing to and fro.

  I put both palms out in front of me and she unhesitatingly stepped into them. I took her over to the bed and sat her down on the pillows. She almost lost her balance but righted herself and quivered her whiskers. I looked at her and wished I could speak with her. I had lost so much already tonight. My best friends, my status and my military command. I cared little for the recognition but I was certain that I was here for a reason and that I could be, in fact already had been, of real assistance to the Kingdom of Olvion. I thought about Dwan, how would I tell her? How would I sit on the wall and watch as my friends and others marched out to meet horrendous odds while I sat safely behind? Would we even be allowed to continue occupying our rooms?

  Suddenly, it was all too much for me to think about. I simply resolved to accept my situation. It no longer mattered if I died or lived. I was here to accomplish something and Tinker was my guide. She had been my guide since the day I arrived here. I would play out my role as long as she wanted me to. Live or die. The tears formed even though I fought hard to keep them inside.

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

  Words

  She watched the human as he came in. She was aware of all that had happened. It pained her to make him choose but she had no choice. Much depended on their actions. Other humans, animals and her kind, all stood to lose so much…too much… if they failed. She searched his face, let her mind slip into his, reaching out and searching his mindscent, trying to identify his feelings. He was in pain. Not pain of a physical nature but that of emotions. He was angry, furious and he was approaching her to vent those emotions. She would not flee or protect herself. She had decided to allow him whatever action he needed to accept the necessity of it all.

  Then it happened. Slowly. He stopped. His mind calmed. A drop of liquid ran from his eye and down his cheek. She’d seen this before and had thought it most curious. But, more importantly, she felt the emotions break over her. They were projected at her, getting stronger with each moment. He had accepted their challenge and would follow her direction even to the point of death. But it was still a grueling task for him to totally understand why. She realized what he needed. But it was so difficult to her kind that it was painful. Her mind was not arranged that way. But she had to try. It was the only way to be fair to him.

  ***

  Immediately after I made my decision to follow Tinker regardless of what happened she walked across the bed slowly on all fours. She sat directly in front of me and raised up as tall as she could stand on her back legs. Her blue-black eyes stared directly into mine.

  “Diffi-cult.”

  I jumped to my feet, shaking the bed so much that she had to drop onto all fours again. I looked at her and pointed.

  “You spoke. You spoke to me in my head.”

  “Spoke…difficult.”

  I was shocked. My head reeled and I started breathing rapidly. “If you could speak to me why have you waited so long? I could have been more convincing to Ruguer and the king. I could have shared details to make them understand.”

  She flicked her tail several times and drew closer.

  “Difficult,” she said again. “Pain.”

  I digested that. It made since even though it was a little frustrating. Was she limited to only a word or two?” I forced myself to calm down. If this is painful for her maybe I could make it easier in some way?

  She appeared to have caught my musings.

  “Eyes.”

  She looked at me then and closed her eyes. After a second she opened them to see if I had caught her meaning. Since I had not she closed them again. Then I thought that I understood. I sat back down on the bed and closed my eyes. I deliberately slowed my breathing and worked to calm myself. My reward came soon.

  “Better. Mind better.”

  I could actually feel her in my head stronger than I ever had before.

  “Mindscent strong. You, Me.”

  “Yes,” I said, keeping my eyes closed.”

  “Mind better.”

  I puzzled over that for a second or two. Then I thought I had caught her meaning. In my head I spoke and reached out wordlessly to her.

  “Yes, I understand you. Speaking with our minds is better, easier for you.”

  A wave of elation flowed into my head.

  “Sad. You?”

  “Yes, sad. Friends will fight this war without me. I thought I was here to help them. I want to help them. But I will follow you. I trust you.”

  With my eyes still closed I felt her scoot forward onto my lap and her little hands touched my face.

  “Help friends. Danger…in tent. Must stop.”

  I took a few moments to try to get the full meaning of her words. Obviously the Grey King was a danger to us. But if I were to kill him would his army simply fold up camp and go away? I doubted it. Nothing that I had observed so far had led me to believe that they would respond in that manner. I heard her words forming in my mind again.

  “King…no. Other.”

  “Other? You want me to destroy another Grey One? Are there two kings?”

  “One king. Other…you no kill. Me.”

  I could actually feel her fatigue and pain. The act of communicating with words instead of emotions was taxing her, causing her actual physical pain. She was trying hard to maintain our connection but I could feel it growing weaker. But I had to have clarity on that last point.

  “There is another? In the tent? And you intend to kill him?”

  Her hands fell from my face as she sagged down, exhausted into my lap. I got one last thought from her.

  “Tinker kill.”

  Before Dwan could come back I scribbled a quick note to her, loosely explaining what I was doing. I begged her to understand and told her how much I loved her. I didn’t dare risk roaming the castle searching for her and calling attention to myself. Th
en I took off my Olvioni warrior uniform and folded it neatly. It still meant too much for me to throw it down no matter how much of a hurry Tinker said we were in. Then I put on the clothes that I found in the cavern of skeletons, my leggings, soft leather boots, thick leather vest and helmet. I examined the weapons that I’d taken from the grave of the Legend who had come before me. The sword was large but I would be able to move well enough with it stowed in the sheath across my shoulders. The long dagger was too useful to leave behind and carried easily on my belt. The war mace had been my most effective weapon and I would definitely need such a tool. I looked at the rest of the items, the big shield with the cleverly located knife blade and the spear that was too heavy and long for a covert incursion. They would have to be left behind. I briefly thought about leaving a note willing them to Ruguer but then decided against it. He was the only Olvioni that was anywhere close to being strong enough to use them. But I had to think positively. Tinker had been very clear. If I wanted to keep communicating with her I had to keep focused on our task. Thinking about dying led to thoughts of leaving Dwan unprotected. And that wouldn’t do us any good.

  I took a long last look at our little apartment before closing the door. Then I hoisted Tinker to my shoulder and strutted through the hallways of the castle like I owned the place. Now that my hair had grown out down to my shoulders, Tinker had stopped holding onto my ear and started clinging to a lock of my hair. It was much less distracting. She trilled so quietly that only I could hear her. In my head she continued to feed me information, catching me up on facts I needed to know as we traveled. People still waved at us and made sounds to Tinker (which she ignored). I smiled and waved back at them.

  Reaching the ground floor I turned and went west until I found the passageways that led to the lower levels. I prayed that Zander, Ruguer and the others were still meeting above me in the castle and word of my demotion had not yet been circulated. I went down two flights of stairs then stopped and took a glow ball that was attached to a wooden dowel from a crate of them. Holding it aloft, I let it light my way through the more dimly-lit halls. At the lowermost level there were two sentries. They appeared confused by my lack of uniform but they recognized me and saluted anyway. I returned the salute, feeling guilty. I continued past them even though one of them had gotten the courage up to ask my intentions. I ignored him.

  I passed several turns, staying always to the left, counting on my memory to get me to my objective. I suppressed a smile when I came to a widening in the hall where there sat two more sentries. They leapt to their feet.

  “Stand down,” I said reassuringly. “I’m just checking security.”

  The tallest one took in my attire. He was suspicious, a good warrior. “The watch commander has already been through here. This seems overly cautious, Division Commander”

  “Yes. And we lost a year’s worth of food last night because we were not overly cautious” I said. I took a step closer to him and let my imposing physical presence do its job. He dropped his eyes. “Relax, sentry. I just want to check the guard station by the exit, then I’ll be back. Report my inspection if you feel it is warranted.” I actually hoped he would because that would further establish his lack of complicity in my mutinous actions.

  The sentry stood aside and I continued down the winding passage until I came to another opening in which were located two more guards. The long, thick iron lever stuck out from the wall. If the location of our secret exit were to be discovered it was the duty of these two guards to push down on that lever, burying the passageway. The two guards snapped to attention when they saw me approach.

  “Stand down, I’m just here to check on the exit.” The two warriors, one male, one female, relaxed a little. The male started to say something but I silenced him with a pointed finger. “Hold your question until I complete my inspection.”

  I left the small guard room and plunged past the thick curtain into almost inky blackness. The dim glow bulb was already on its last legs, the natural phosphorescence of the glowing leaves within having decayed. It barely illuminated my path to the end of the passage. The wooden frame of the disguised door stood before us. Tinker chirped. I put the glow bulb on the ground and stepped on it. It took a half-dozen stomps before the feeble light from the crushed leaves was entirely extinguished. With nothing around us but darkness I pushed the door open a crack. One moon was covered by glowing clouds, the other shined pale. It was too much to hope that both would be clouded over. I pushed the door open just far enough to slip out. Then I knelt and listened. The cricket-like insects of this planet stopped their music when they heard the scuffing of my boots on the rocky ground. I waited, silent. A few moments later they resumed their serenade.

  I duck-walked until I reached the bottom of the path. There I was able to stand without presenting a silhouette to a would-be assassin. I took a quick look around. Tinker delivered a brief thought to my “mindscent”.

  “Quick.”

  That was good enough for me. I moved quickly in the direction of the enemy camp. I picked this exit because it was the closest one to the Grey King’s tent. There were trees all around us. I was surprised that there were no Greys patrolling. Certainly, If Ruguer had been the one overseeing this siege no enemy subversives such as Tinker and I would have been able to sneak out of the city walls unseen. But we had been watching the Grey Horde shrink day by day. It seemed as if their numbers were growing smaller every morning, their raiders having deserted during the night. Not that the absconders had made that much of a difference in their strength. The bean counters in the War Room estimated that they lost about a hundred to two hundred fighters each night. That still left a formidable number to deal with. The last estimate that had been given to King Zander had been a few less than one hundred and twenty thousand fighters. If we only had more time the rate of attrition would win our war for us.

  But the destruction of our stores had cost us dearly. We had only enough food to feed our citizens and warriors for six days. That included slaughtering all of our livestock and putting non-combatants on half rations. I knew Ruguer would not wait until his troops grew weak from hunger, he would hit the Greys with everything he could muster.

  I was under no illusions that I would survive this day. I said a quick prayer that our efforts out here tonight would make a difference and, maybe in some way, aid in the kingdom’s defense. If not, the only thing I’d lost was one more night with Dwan. Yeah, only.

  An hour on the prowl had us within three hundred yards of the Grey King’s tent. I squatted behind some brush and surveyed the surroundings. Tinker sent me another pain-laced message that there were “monsters” about. Really?

  The line of trees and bushes stopped where we were currently squatting and there was nothing but dozens of enemy campsites between us and the tent. I thought furiously, trying to come up with a way to crawl past the fires and guards. Evidently they had finally learned their lesson regarding posting guards at night. For the first time I regretted our Rangers’ successes at hitting their camps at night. I finally just accepted that in trying to get Tinker to the tent I would be swarmed and killed. So be it.

  Then Tinker sent me a thought. “Stay.”

  I almost shouted to her out loud. I caught myself and used our silent ability to communicate. “What do you mean? I’m not staying anywhere. I’m getting you into that tent if I have to cut us a path with my sword.”

  “Stay. Me tent. You war.”

  I hesitated and put my hand on her silky back. I didn’t want her to go.

  “Must.”

  “I don’t think I can let you go in there alone.”

  “Must. Will. Legend reality. Tinker reality.”

  “So you have to do this alone?”

  “Yes. Tinker…alone.”

  I released the pressure of my hand on her back. She hopped down and stood by my knee as high as she could on her rear legs. I leaned my head down. She put her soft, little furry cheek to mine, first one side, then the other. She ste
pped back. Her eyes reflected the light from the surrounding fires. I didn’t want to give up yet. I tried to delay her departure. “How will I know what to do? Or even when to do it? And…will we see each other again?”

  “Trust self. Legend.” Tinker nuzzled me one last time. She turned and scampered soundlessly off toward the tent of the Grey King. A brick formed in my gut as I watched her go.

  I found a leafy bush that I could hide in the middle of. I snuck inside the foliage and put my back to the thick trunk. The night was cool and I smelled the disgusting odors of the enemy camp. Despite Tinker’s assurances I had no idea what to do now. Should I wait here for her? Should I create distraction elsewhere so she would have cover to complete whatever task was before her? I just didn’t know. And it was a terrible feeling.

  ***

  The little animal crawled under the leather skirts of the shelter. The smells of the camp were bad but inside the tent it was overpowering. She smelled sweat, badly-tanned pelts, urine and feces. She took a moment and adjusted herself, tuning down her sense of smell. She compensated by increasing her hearing. Violent snores were coming from the monster asleep on the wood and rope cot. She reflected that she would never again complain about the noise her human made while dozing.

  She took it all in. Her senses went out into the tent and mapped it for her mind. She discerned the layout of each room, what was in each little corner. Her mind drank it in, searching, searching.

  “You are here.”

  She froze, not out of fear but to focus her senses. The voice came from her mind but she could tell it was originating from a black wooden box in one of the smaller rooms attached to this main chamber. The speaker was communicating to her in the manner of Tinker’s kind. The combination of emotions and images forming understandings as clear as any spoken word.

  Tinker glanced at the Grey King on his cot. The owner of the voice knew what she was thinking.

  “He slumbers. With the potions he sips and the control I have over him he will not awaken unless I allow him to. The space is ours. I have been waiting for you.”