by Kris A Hiatt
“Perhaps I underestimated you,” Shamir said, ignoring Vrindel and looking directly at him.
“I’m just doing my part,” Brental responded, bowing deeply yet disingenuously.
“Vrindel,” Shamir began. “Think of a way to spin this tale in sermon form and return to me.”
“Very well,” Vrindel replied. He bowed before taking his leave.
“If you keep functioning this well, you may yet find yourself out of the slaughterhouse and into my good graces.”
“Yes, my King,” Brental said. He knew his accommodations in the old slaughterhouse was a form of punishment. He was happy to hear the King admit to it and that there was also a possibility of those accommodations changing. But why would he want the message to be in sermon form? “Sermon form, sir?”
“Never mind that for now. Give me the details of your plan,” Shamir instructed, walking toward the window.
“Yes, my King,” Brental said again, joining him. He figured he would know the reasoning behind the sermon soon enough.
Chapter 9
Kiril was not an experienced fighter, but she didn’t think Treace had any chance of winning the fight. The fact that he was still alive amazed her. Disdane was so much larger and stronger than his opponent, Kiril didn’t think the fight would have lasted more than a few seconds. To Treace’s credit, he had fought well. She watched him duck, dodge, and roll out of the way of numerous attacks and had somehow managed to wound the large man.
Kiril turned her lips in disgust as Disdane licked the wound on his arm and then informed Treace he’d die slowly for wounding him. She didn’t know how that made any sense. If Disdane did connect on one of his powerful swings with that sword, it would be over with quickly, not slowly.
She saw her father run from the porch and cross over to the nearby tree. In her heart she wished he would run away from the fight, not toward it. Her mind, though, told her that there was no way her father would do that. Once his mind was set on something, there was nothing anyone could do to change it. Treace could surely use the help, that was clear, but she still wanted her father to run away with her to someplace safe. She knew that wouldn’t happen, however, so she just hoped her father would do something to help the man. And do it soon.
Treace’s eyes turned on her then and he yelled for her to go. She was stuck. She knew she couldn’t help him and yet she didn’t want to leave him either. He was risking his life to protect her and her father. She knew her father was going to try to help. She didn’t know what he’d do, but she knew he was a powerful magic user. She had learned some of the Paths from him, but she was nowhere near his level of competence. She hoped he would figure something out and get back to her safely.
She watched as Treace got punched in the head so hard it sent him flying. She thought for certain he would be knocked out from the blow. But, somehow, he remained conscious and pulled himself to his feet. It even appeared that Disdane broke his hand making the attack. She didn’t think it mattered though, as Disdane’s large sword flew back in at Treace. Yet, again, he was nimble enough to somehow block it with his sword.
Treace was sent flying again as Disdane clubbed him in the head with his arm. She wasn’t a warrior, but she knew she had to do something. Her father hadn’t done anything yet. She thought he just needed more time. Besides, she couldn’t sit by and watch Treace die. She leaped from her horse and sprinted as fast as she could. Disdane had his back to her and he was tall enough that she could see Treace on the ground through his legs.
She reached down and picked up Treace’s sword as she ran. She watched helplessly as Disdane heaved his large sword over his head and brought it down toward his opponent. She knew she couldn’t get there in time and also knew Treace couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the way of the attack. She waited for him to be cut in half.
Treace screamed in pain and she knew he was done for. From her angle it was obvious the sword dug deeply into his flesh. Disdane kicked him in the face and his head snapped back. She thought the blow was so hard that it may have broken his neck.
She knew he was already dead, but she didn’t care. If he could risk his life, then she could risk hers too. She didn’t know how to properly use a sword but that didn’t stop her from trying. She slashed in as hard as she could at Disdane’s right arm.
Her aim was off, but luckily for her she couldn’t have hoped to hit a better spot. She hit his hand rather than his arm and the large sword dropped from his grasp.
He grunted in either surprise, pain, or possibly both. She hoped it was in pain. A lot of it.
He threw his arm back at her wildly and had she been a more experienced fighter she may have gotten out of the way. But she wasn’t, so instead she got caught and her cheek flared up in pain. She had never been kicked by a horse, but she imagined it wouldn’t be as powerful as the blow she just took. The man hit incredibly hard and she had no idea how she was still conscious. The blow sent her flying to the side and when she landed, she landed close to Treace. She knew it would only be a few moments before she found herself dead right next to him.
“Your turn,” Disdane told her, motioning for her to attack.
She wasn’t stupid though, so after standing back up, she didn’t advance on the dangerous man. She didn’t know what her next move was, but she stood there for a moment to collect her thoughts. The blow had dazed her and she needed time to think.
She reached up to the side of her face and could feel the swelling that had already began to take place. She wasn’t surprised to see blood on her hand when she brought it in front of her eyes either. She backed up, circling left as she did so. She stood protectively over Treace’s body. Not knowing what else to do, she placed her sword in front of her defensively. If she was going to die, she was going to do so fighting.
Disdane took one step forward toward her and then stopped literally in mid-stride. She didn’t know why at first, but then the reflection off of his body gave it away.
Around him was a shimmering barrier, covering his skin yet barely visible. She knew exactly what it was and who had done it.
She looked for her father and found him next to the tree, hand placed against it. A sheen covered the tree. She instantly knew what he was doing, though she didn’t know it was possible to place a barrier around a tree! Her father was truly a powerfully brilliant man. He was using a distant barrier to prevent Disdane from moving. She knew he couldn’t hope to hold the large man for very long, however, so she needed to move quickly.
She could see Disdane’s muscles bulging under the barrier. The man was trying as hard as he could to move toward her, but her father’s barrier wouldn’t let him. Had her father just placed the barrier over Disdane and not used the tree to brace himself, the powerful man would have just pulled her father with him when he moved. But, unless he could pull the tree out of the ground from its roots, the dangerous man wouldn’t get one inch closer to her.
She reached down to check Treace’s pulse. Miraculously, he was still alive. Blood poured from the massive wound to his shoulder and back. Blood also ran from both his nose and mouth. She weighed her options quickly. She knew she had to heal him, regardless of the consequences of what happened after. She’d deal with that later. She looked around and didn’t think she had the time to heal him right then, but neither did he have time to wait. She didn’t know if she could stop the bleeding enough to save his life, but if she didn’t try soon, it was clear he would die. She decided she had to do it then rather than try to move him away and heal him later. She just hoped her father could hold the barrier long enough. But if he didn’t, Disdane would be right there, unhindered and able to easily kill them both.
“Are you okay?” Moffred asked, coming up beside her.
“I’m fine,” she replied, ignoring the pain from the whole right side of her face.
“Is he alive?” Moffred asked.
“Barely,” she admitted. She thought she had an idea.
“How is Kint doing that?”
“Here,” she said, ignoring his question and holding out her sword to him. She nodded toward Disdane. “Hold this sword in front of him. If that barrier fades, stab him as hard as you can.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked, taking the few steps needed to get to Disdane.
“I’m trying to save his life,” she told him, placing both of her hands directly on the grievous wound that spanned his shoulder and back. She could see his shoulder blade beneath the shredded muscle and sinew.
“I’m no fighter,” Moffred informed her.
She ignored him and closed her eyes. She sought The Calm, as her father had taught her and found it faster than she thought she would, given the circumstances. She focused on her emotions and, as usual, they were far above her. She concentrated on love, the emotion that powered healing magic. She willed it to come to her. At first it only floated slowly toward her, then as she focused harder, it flew toward her, its yellow-white glow enveloped her. She felt a thousand kisses from her father enter her mind, she felt their warmth and tenderness on her forehead. She could see his smile when she was ten, after she had given him a drawing that he said was beautiful. She could feel how that smile warmed her heart. She saw his smile again when she was six, when he was comforting her and telling her to trust him as he was about to use string to pull a tooth that refused to come out. He was right and she felt no pain. She loved him all the more for it. She could feel the warmth from the sun as she basked in its summer light, how she loved that warmth!
She took those memories and combined them. She willed them into a single sphere, larger than her arms could grasp if she were outside of The Calm. But in it, she molded it. She used her mind to press in at it from all sides until it got smaller. Smaller and smaller she willed it. Pushing in on it with her mind until it was nothing more than a tiny ball, smaller than the tip of her thumb, stressing hard to contain its power.
She could feel the healing glow emanating from her, begging for release. It pulled at her. She unleashed it. The glow exploded powerfully in all directions. She could feel it as it passed from her heart and into every facet of her body and being. She didn’t have to have her eyes open to know that her whole body glowed with its healing light. She felt it wash over Treace. Muscle fibers wound around each other, sinew attaching those muscles back to the bone. Ruptured blood vessels closed and skin formed over that which was torn.
She opened her eyes and knew instinctively that she had stopped the bleeding. She was still surprised when she looked at the wound. She had closed it fully! She didn’t expect to be so successful in healing the damage that was done. She had never had to heal such a horrendous wound, but what she had just done seemed impossible to her. He was still unconscious, but now that the wound was healed she hoped he would come around soon.
“You are amazing,” Moff told her.
“Get him on the horse,” Kiril instructed. She ignored his awestruck comment. She had to check on her father.
“It never even flickered,” Moff told her, speaking of the barrier around Disdane.
“I know, we’re still alive.”
“I can’t lift him up on the horse by myself,” Moff said.
He was right. Treace was still unconscious and there was no way Moff was going to lift the man up onto the saddle all by himself. She grabbed Treace under one arm as Moff did the same under the other. They half dragged, half carried him over to Treace’s horse.
“Get on,” Moff instructed.
“What? No,” Kiril told him. “My father.” She had no intention of leaving her father behind.
“Your father said for you to go with us,” Moff argued. “Now get on. Treace can’t ride on his own. You’ll have to hold onto him.”
“I’m not leaving him,” Kiril assured him. She understood that Treace needed help, but she wasn’t going to leave her father.
“Yes you are. He wanted you safe. If he’s as strong as we think he is, we’ll only be in the way when he drops that barrier.”
Kiril didn’t want to admit it, but she knew he was right. It still pained her to think of leaving her father behind, but he’d be able to concentrate much easier if he knew she was safely away from the dangerous man. When it came to using magic, concentration was the only thing that mattered. No matter how powerful your magic was, if you couldn’t concentrate enough to find The Calm, all of that power was wasted. Every second mattered.
“Climb up,” Moff told her. “I’ll lift him up to you. You’ll need to pull him onto the horse.”
“Fine,” Kiril relented. She knew she couldn’t lift Treace up high enough by herself and she couldn’t think of any other options. She looked at the horse and was glad she wasn’t wearing a dress today. Riding side-saddle with someone over your lap would make it difficult to keep your balance.
She climbed on to the horse and got ready to pull Treace to her. Moff had him over his shoulder and was standing with his back to her. She grabbed Treace by his arms and pulled as hard as she could. She nearly pulled Moff over, but he stumbled back against the horse, which prevented him from falling. Moff pushed up on Treace’s body and slid him backward over his shoulder. They nearly dropped him twice, but they finally managed to get Treace over her lap.
“Ride, girl, ride!” she heard her father call out.
She was happy to hear his voice, but that happiness was short lived when she realized that if her father was talking to her, then the barrier that was holding Disdane was no longer in place.
She turned to see the man bent over his sword. He was barely twenty feet away! She had to get moving. “Go, Moff! Now!”
She held on to Treace as tightly as she could and kicked hard with her heels, urging the horse to run.
Moffred took off first and she was right behind him. She looked over to see Disdane running in their direction, angling to intercept. He was already so close! The large man’s strides were nearly as long as that of a horse and he only needed to take a few more of them to get to her. His sword was over his head ready to strike.
She knew there wasn’t enough distance between them. He was going to get to them. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact of Disdane’s sword. Kiril heard him scream in rage as if to fuel the powerful attack that was about to end her life.
The attack never came.
She opened her eyes as her horse continued to run. She looked back over her shoulder to see Disdane clutching his hands to his chest. She didn’t understand at first, but the smoke wafting from the sword on the ground and its bright red glow told her everything. Her father, yet again, had saved her life. He had turned Disdane’s sword so hot that it burned skin and flesh, causing him to drop it. Her mind had heard him scream but she didn’t realize until now that the scream was in agony.
Kiril looked to her father to offer him a silent thanks as she rode away. Her heart sank in her chest and she nearly fell off of the horse. Even from this distance it was obvious to her.
Her father had stone-faced himself.
She stopped the horse and stared at her father. She was no longer close enough for Disdane to reach her before she could get away, but she was still close enough to clearly see her father’s face. It broke her heart and made her very angry at the same time.
She began to push Treace forward, trying to get him off of her lap and in front of the saddle, giving her room to move. She needed to get off of the horse but she didn’t want to drop him.
“Kiril, no!” Moffred yelled, kicking his horse, spurring it to run back toward her.
“He dies now,” Kiril growled.
“If you get off that horse, you’re dead.”
“He doesn’t even have a sword!” she yelled. She could feel tears stream down her cheeks.
“And he doesn’t need one to kill us,” Moff said, now close enough to speak without having to yell.
“He killed my father!” she screamed. She could barely see through all the tears in her eyes, but it didn’t matter. She intended on killing the man that
had killed her father.
“And if you get off of that horse, he will have died for nothing,” Moff said tenderly. “He gave his life so you could keep yours. Honor that. Honor him.”
Disdane looked from his hands and over at her father and then finally looked back at her. He began to smile. Even through her tears she could tell that he was smiling. Apparently the man knew what fate had in store for the stone-faced. She wanted to wipe the smile from his face with her boot.
Her horse began to move away from her adversary and she turned to see Moffred holding the reins to her horse behind him, leading with his horse. “No!” She yelled.
Moffred didn’t stop.
She thought about pushing Treace off of her and springing from her horse, but the few wits she still had about her prevented it. She couldn’t risk his life with hers and if he fell from the horse he might break a leg or possibly his neck. Even if he didn’t, Disdane would just finish him off after he was done with her.
So instead she cried. She turned in her saddle as far as she could in order to see her father one last time. As the horses crested the small rise she watched helplessly as Disdane strode away from her. He stalked toward the husk of the man that used to be her father. It was still his body, but his mind was gone. He was gone, only the shell remained. Though it pained her to admit the truth, she knew he was dead.
She lost sight of her father when Disdane was still a few steps away from him. She knew that by her father was doomed to die simply because he was stone-faced. Disdane would actually be doing him a favor by finishing him quickly, but she was still glad she didn’t have to watch him do it.
Chapter 10
Brental had told Shamir his plan and was waiting for the man to reply on who he thought should go to Haven to deliver the news to the people there. He waited silently and watched as the King paced back and forth.
Brental wanted the stories of what Nimbril had done to Truntil to spread through the land, especially in Haven. And he wanted everyone to know how he threatened the lives of those he employed and how he made a mockery of what the College stood for by lying about the scores of the entrance exams. And he wanted everyone to know that Drevic was capable of the same thing. Either Liernin would have to renounce his friendship with the former members of the College, or he’d show he that was backing murderers and cheats. Either way it would make the people of Haven question his integrity and soften his position.
