Victim of Fate

by Jason Halstead

  "What of the heroes of Highpeak?" the dragon's voice caused Fizzulthorp's bones to vibrate and quake.

  "They call themselves the Blades of Leander," he answered without delay. "The one who killed Barador is a young warrior by the name of Alto. He is young, little more than a boy, but strong as an ogre."

  "This is not news to me." Sarya's claws dug furrows in the mountain rock she sat upon.

  "He was a farmer!" Fizzulthorp cried out. "I'm searching for his farm. If he has a family, we might use them against him. I won't fail you as Barador did."

  "Barador pleased me in the beginning," Sarya said. She had no need of reminding Fizzulthorp of how Barador ended, nor what she would have done to him had he survived. "Find that boy for me. I want him destroyed! Use the knights if you must."

  He bowed deeply. "Yes, great one, I will see it done."

  "How long for the forges?"

  "Soon. I leave tomorrow. I'll channel the fires so they can begin crafting their weapons. We didn't get enough silver for your needs before the Kingdom forces retook their mines, but the dwarven mines have silver veins aplenty."

  "Retake the mountains and drive the humans from these lands. Do not fail me, Fizzulthorp."

  The wizard bowed deeply. "Victory shall be yours."

  * * * *

  Rosalyn stubbed her toe on a root and fell forward. She cursed loudly as she fell, and then had the presence of mind to lift her head up and look around. Her lip curled up in a sneer. She was alone; nobody else had the courage to come near the forest like she did.

  She yelped when she felt the wetness on her knee and leg and jumped away. Too late, her dress was soaked by the spilled water from the bucket she carried. As exciting as the forest was, a shorter trip to fetch water meant less of a chance to spill it, too.

  She climbed to her feet and winced when she put weight on her foot. Her toe and ankle were sore. She walked around, testing it out and found the movement made the pain fade. Muttering at her own clumsiness, she fetched up her pail and turned to stare at the stream she'd just come from. A wasp circled her head, earning a lazy swipe and a glare from her, and then it flew off towards its hive high above the stream on a thick tree branch.

  She sighed and started back down the bank towards the stream. "I won't marry Parrick, even if he is the only boy left my age," she vowed. She dipped the bucket in the water and filled it, and then turned away from the stream. Movement in the shadows caught her attention, causing her to turn and stare suspiciously.

  The movement was a fox, red-haired with tints of silver around its panting mouth. She saw it walk to the river and dip its maw in to take a drink. She smiled as she watched it, forgetting about the argument with her parents and their punishment of making her fetch water for dinner.

  She sighed. "Yes, I'm stubborn and I'm not going to settle for what's good enough," she said to no one. The fox looked at her, tilting its head and perking up its ears.

  "I won't be a breeding mare for some stupid farm boy!" she told the fox. The animal stared at her a moment longer and then it turned and laid down next to the water's edge. All the while its eyes stared at her.

  "Shouldn't you be running away? Or do you think I'm just a stupid girl, too?" Rosalyn challenged the fox. "I'm not! I'll do something important some day. You just wait and see! People will know who I am! It won't matter that I didn't get married and pop out my first child before I turned eighteen. Maybe I'll never have children! Ha! What will they say then?"

  The fox turned its head and stared towards the edge of the forest near Rosalyn. The wary creature jumped to its feet and shot off into the undergrowth of the forest, disappearing in a flash of red and silver. Rosalyn turned, surprised by the animal’s behavior, and saw a man standing only a few feet from her.

  She opened her mouth to snap at him but some force she couldn’t see grabbed her up and held her tightly. The pressure of invisible ropes squeezed her, stealing even her voice. "You're a feisty one," the man said as he stepped closer to her. "And so full of yourself with your I wills and I won'ts."

  He circled the immobile girl, passing out of her field of view on the right and coming back into it from the left. "So willful, that just won't do. I think you need to learn your place and I've just the idea to do that."

  Rosalyn felt her heart hammering in her chest faster and faster as he came to a stop in front of her and folded his arms across his chest. She struggled to speak but the words wouldn't come. She wanted to turn and flee but she couldn't. He wore loose-fitting clothes and had multiple charms and oddities hanging from his belt and shirt. She'd never seen a wizard before but she imagined he was what such a person would look like.

  Magic then, he'd worked magic on her! An evil spell that bound her as sure as a length of rope. Her eyes widened and she heard her breath hiss through her nostrils.

  "You figured it out? You're a quick one, too. Yes, I'm a wizard. And you're to be my next plaything. I've been looking for a proper subject for my experiments. The animals and insects around here can only tell me so much."

  Rosalyn's vision blurred as tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

  The wizard chuckled. "I should collect those; there are uses for a maiden’s tears. Not to worry, there will be many more where those come from. But I can't just steal you away; others will wonder. What to do, what to do?"

  He glanced around and spied a wasp lift off from a flower near the edge of the stream and then lift up into the air towards the nest a dozen feet above them. A smile spread across his face. "Perfect!"

  The wizard unfolded his arms and reached into his pocket to remove a pinch of some flaky substance. He chanted the words to a brief spell and then blew the powder up and into the air. Rosalyn heard the words and felt something stir inside her. She didn't understand the magical syllables but the cadence pulled at her. It made sense and felt right even though the thought of him working magic terrified her.

  The flakes drifted upwards a few feet until they were consumed in tiny dazzles of lights. Then sparkling dust streaked upwards and swirled around the wasp hive. In moments, the light disappeared and the hive began to grow.

  "It would be best if we weren't here any longer," the wizard said. He gestured at her and she felt herself jerk up into the air and forward. She floated behind him, panting through her nose in terror as he led her away from the stream and then followed the edge of the forest. Behind them, the wasp hive continued to grow until the branch bent and began to creak. It cracked at last, unable to hold the weight of the massive hive. The wasps emerged, having grown commensurately, and began to buzz about angrily now that their hive rested on the bank of the stream. It kept growing, displacing itself and rolling over so that it lay in the water, but it was too large to be swept away by the gentle stream.

  When the enlargement finished, the hive stood nearly thirty feet from the top to bottom. The wasps crashed into trees and brush, unaccustomed to their new size. After buzzing about and gathering more of their numbers, they quickly learned they were too large to search for nectar. Searching in a frenzy, they flew off in a swarm in search of a new source of food.

  Chapter 3

  Alto woke up to a cool rag rubbing across his brow. He squinted in the light from the lantern in his room and saw Aleena, the young barmaid from the Foaming Mug inn. "You're awake! You gave me quite a scare."

  Alto opened his mouth but the taste of burnt wood and an itching in his chest forced him into a fit of coughing. When it subsided, he managed a groan and collapsed back on his bed, exhausted.

  "I heard that Namitus talked some of the townsfolk into helping him bring the hero back to his room," Aleena said with a smile. She reached into a bucket to wet her rag again and then brought it back to wipe his face. "You look a sight."

  "If I look like I feel, I don't doubt it," he managed in a raspy voice.

  "Don't talk. Tristam sent for Karthor."

  Alto stirred at the mention of the other members of the Blades of Leander. Tristam was their
leader and had become Alto's mentor ever since he'd taken him on without any experience or training with a blade. "I don't need a priest. I'm not hurt," he said. "Just breathed in too much smoke is all. A little exercise and I'll get my wind back."

  "Your hair was singed and your skin burned and blistered in a few places! You ran into a burning house not once but twice!"

  Alto nodded. "I don't feel burned."

  "Thank Namitus for that; he had me mix up a cream to rub on the wounds. It's taken the sting out of them."

  Alto grunted and raised his hands to look at them. They were wrapped in bandages. He struggled to sit up and winced at the pain in his back. "Did my back get burned too?"

  "No, but from what your friend said it's no wonder it hurts!" Aleena admonished him.

  "Why? What did he say?"

  "You hoisted a barrel of water on your back? By yourself!"

  "It was only half full."

  "You're a man, not a bull. Bullheaded, maybe, but men aren't meant to lift such things by themselves."

  Alto frowned. "It's that kind of thinking that stops men from doing what they could or should do."

  She frowned and wiped away more dirt and soot from his neck and chin. "Clean enough, I think."

  "Clean enough for what?"

  Aleena leaned in quickly and placed her lips on his. Alto's eyes widened but the feeling was nice. Very nice. He started to press back against her when she sat up and touched her lips with her fingers. She smiled and dropped them to her lap. "I need to get back. I've overstayed already."

  Alto bit back a groan. "How late is it?"

  "Middle of the night, or near enough to have my father tanning my hide for being out!"

  "He's a good man, your father. He worries about you is all."

  She dropped the rag into the bucket forcefully. "You always take his side," she muttered. "You can be such a stupid farm boy at times!"

  Alto watched as she stood and hurried to the door. She opened it and stepped through, but not before he could call to her, "Aleena, wait."

  She paused but didn't look back at him.

  "Thank you," he said.

  She nodded and turned to smile at him. She shook her head and sighed. "Get some rest, hero. You know I can't stay mad at you no matter what your fool mouth says."

  Alto grinned as she shut the door behind her. Aleena was the first girl he'd met when he left his father's farm and journeyed to the city of Portland. It had been an accidental meeting when he'd gotten lost trying to find the headquarters of the Blades of Leander, but one that had stuck with him. Now they'd become fast friends and she was pushing for more. Alto was interested, but he kept stopping himself. It wasn't that he didn't like Aleena. Far from it! Aleena was a great girl if a bit headstrong and forceful at times. No, Alto's problem had nothing to do with Aleena; it had to do with another girl he'd met and had to part ways with. A lady far above his station.

  The door opened and Karthor stuck his head in. "Still awake and the young barmaid just left. Did she kiss all your hurts and make them better?"

  Alto felt the heat in his face that had nothing to do with the fire. "She kept me company, that's all."

  Karthor chuckled. "I believe you. You're daft, but I believe you."

  "Why?"

  "Because you've the morals of a priest of Millesius, the patron saint of marriage! The girl's crazy about you," Karthor said. "She's feigned interest in Namitus and me both, sure, but that was just to make you jealous. She gave up on us when it didn't work, but you probably didn't notice."

  "She's just a friend," Alto said.

  "You're one of a kind, Alto. One of a kind," Karthor said while shaking his head. "Now lay back and relax while I see what you've done to yourself."

  "Where's Namitus? Is he all right?"

  "Some minor burns and short of breath from the smoke, but he's fine. He wasn't fool enough to run back into the house."

  "The lady of the house collapsed!" Alto protested.

  "And so did you a few minutes later. I hear she's recovering and will be fine after some rest, by the way."

  "Good," Alto said. He lay back on the bed. "Did Namitus tell you what happened?"

  "That you two saw a merchant slip and drop his lantern outside his house?"

  Alto stared at him for a long moment. "Um, yeah, that started the fire."

  "And then you two ran in to save his family and sent him to bring help."

  "That's all he told you?"

  "Is there more?" Karthor held his holy symbol in his hand, paused, as he held it over Alto's chest.

  There was more, but now that Alto thought about it, he was confused. Why had the girl's brother known Namitus had been there when her father hadn't? The young man looked older than Alto by a year or two. "No, that's all of it," Alto said. He had questions for his roguish friend. Speaking before he had answers was bound to cause problems.

  "Then lay back and close your eyes; this may take some time."

  * * * *

  "Her father didn't know?" Alto challenged Namitus the next day when he joined him at a table and broke apart a loaf of bread.

  Namitus shrugged. He chewed a bite of his own meal and swallowed before answering, "She's old enough."

  "Not unless he says she is," Alto pointed out. "This isn't the southern realms or even a Kelgryn city."

  "The southern kingdoms are far worse, trust me," Namitus chuckled.

  "What then, an elven city?"

  Namitus shrugged. "Never been to one and the elves I've met don't speak much of where they come from. Just because my grandmother is an elf doesn't mean I'm privy to their customs."

  Alto sighed and chewed on his simple breakfast. "Was she worth the risk?"

  Namitus chuckled. "You're still dancing around the lass from the bar? When are you going to bed her and get it done with?"

  Alto frowned. "I'm not. I mean, I don't...What about you? Falling out of a window?"

  Namitus laughed at him and took a drink from his cup. "The kiss of a young lady is a distracting thing."

  Alto thought back to Aleena’s kiss while he lay recovering in bed the night before. "Aye, that's true enough."

  His friend chuckled at the young warrior's distant expression. "So, why cut my night short? Are we to spend another fortnight keeping traders company on the roads?"

  "You haven't spoken to Tristam yet?"

  "Haven't even seen him yet," Namitus admitted. The sound of a boots on wood drew their eyes up to the stairs that led to the private rooms.

  "Seems you two had a rousing night," the leader of the Blades of Leander said as he entered the room. "Sounds like there's more to it than what I heard last night, too."

  Alto and Namitus glanced at each other. They both turned back to Tristam, mouths opened to explain but he waved them off. "First off, there's two types of men in the world. Those who run out of a burning building and those who run in. I'm of a mind that I want those who run in on my side, but that don't mean you're not fools for doing it."

  The two young men shared another glance. "Alto tells me we've another job?" Namitus asked.

  Tristam smirked. "The crown's being tight with work these days. You'd think after all the lives we spared last spring they'd be a bit more trusting with us. Well, boys, that's not the way of royalty. They've got to have their fingers in everything. Mark my words, control and power is all they're after. Makes living like simple men such as you and me seem like a far better fate."

  Alto frowned as Tristam droned on. "We live well enough with our laws, don't we?"

  "True enough, but that don't mean I'd want to be running this show! Too many things to keep track of, the way they do things. And so much of it's nonsense, stopping us from getting good contracts when we're better suited than the rank and file of their armies."

  "So, um, what job did you get?" Namitus reminded their leader. "Babysitting another caravan through roads that haven't seen a bandit in years?"

  "There a problem with those?" Tristam asked. "We come ba
ck alive and with coin in our pocket."

  Namitus chuckled. "Fair enough. Just a bit boring is all."

  "You'd rather be spending time wooing a merchant’s daughter?" Alto teased.

  Namitus's cheeks flushed red and he clamped his mouth shut. Tristam laughed and reached to carve off a block of cheese from a wheel on the table. He found a loaf of bread in a basket to go with it and then sat down at the end of the table. He chewed a bite of the bread slowly while both of his men watched him. "We're headed into Kelgryn lands," he said after he'd swallowed the first mouthful. "See if there's any work to be had there. If not, then we head north."

  "North? Back to the Northern Divide?" Alto asked.

  "Into it, and beneath it."

  Both men groaned and shared another look. "Our last time under those mountains didn't go so well. We lost Gerald and Drefan," Alto said.

  Tristam nodded. "I know, and I miss them still. Well, most of the time. We're not searching for mines taken by trolls and goblins and such."

  "What then?"

  "What indeed?" a fresh voice said as a man wearing black robes came through the door from the street. The wizard eyed the food on the table and walked over to help himself to it.

  "Kar, I trust you're ready?" Tristam asked by way of greeting.

  "As ready as a man about to set foot in dangerous lands can be," Kar muttered around a mouthful of cheese.

  "The Kelgryn aren't dangerous," Alto protested. "We're welcome there!"

  Namitus laughed and found a chance to poke at his friend. "At least welcome in the halls of the jarl's daughter!"

  Alto's eyes mirrored his mouth, both wide open at the rogue's comment. Tristam and Karthor chuckled at the warrior's embarrassment. "I meant the depths Tristam means to take us, the very bowels of the mountains."

  Alto turned to Namitus, expecting to share another look of confusion with his friend. Instead, he saw Namitus staring at the wizard until his lips curled up into a smile. "Have you found them? The mines?"