The Cursed Lands

by Timothy L. Cerepaka

  After a few more minutes of walking, the three Warrior Priests reached the doors to the Council Chamber, where the Council was. They were large, silver doors that had engravings of the Dragon Gods on their surface, which Sarzen thought was ironic, given how almost nobody on the Council actually worshiped the Dragon Gods anymore. It was another reminder, to him, of how hypocritical the Council was, though he soon forgot about it as Carnus pushed open the doors and they entered.

  The Council Chamber was large and round, much nicer than the Sanctuary. The floor was clean marble, while the ceiling and walls were a fine oak that looked like it had been aged to give it a finer appearance. Two large windows stood at the other end of the room, which provided an amazing view of the city of Ars and the surrounding mountains. Thick carpets hung from the walls, tapestries that displayed images of the Dragon Gods and the city of Ars, beautifully woven tapestries that almost made Sarzen gasp at their beauty. There was not a speck of dust anywhere in the room; it was like dust was not allowed to be in here, as if the Elect Council was too good to get dirty.

  In the center of the room was a round, wooden table around which sat the ten members of the Elect Council. Sarzen was not familiar enough with the Council to recognize each member, but he had no trouble identifying Agon, who sat on the far side of the table in the traditional violet robes of the Elect Councilmen.

  On the table itself was a map of Yores, plus a variety of books, papers, and other things that had probably been used during the Elect Council’s discussions on important matters. Sarzen suddenly felt even more nervous than before, especially when the eyes of the Councilmen shifted over to him and the other two.

  “Ah, Warrior Priests,” said Agon, who appeared to be speaking for the rest of the Council. “We are pleased to see that you have arrived on time.”

  They don’t look particularly pleased to see us to me, Sarzen thought, but he didn’t say anything, partly out of nerves, partly because he had been told not to speak during this meeting unless spoken to due to his status as an Acolyte.

  Agon shuffled some papers together and said, “Priests, will you need seats? This meeting might be very long and you would be far more comfortable sitting than standing.”

  “No, it is fine,” said Carnus. “We will stand. Part of the Warrior Priest lifestyle is learning to deal with adversity.”

  “Adversity?” muttered one of the other Councilmen. “Is that what you call standing nowadays?”

  “Oh, I understand,” said Agon, before Carnus could respond to the rude Councilman’s remark. “Stand or sit as you feel led. We can have a discussion about our next course of action either way.”

  “Fine,” said Carnus. He gestured at himself, Sarzen and Zomo. “I am High Priest Carnus, while this is my successor, Zomo, and one of our Acolytes, Sarzen. You may remember Sarzen as the one who fought the Draymens assassin that killed Renuk.”

  “Yes, I remember,” said Agon, nodding along with the other Councilmen. “I assume you’ve brought him here due to his experience with fighting Draymens?”

  “Yes,” said Carnus, nodding. “Normally, we do not bring Acolytes to these sorts of meetings, but Sarzen is an exception, though he will not speak unless spoken to. Isn’t that right, Sarzen?”

  Sarzen nodded. He couldn’t make eye contact with Agon or any of the other Councilman, because his nerves were getting the best of him. He didn’t know if the Elect noticed his nerves or not; he hoped they didn’t, because it would be embarrassing if they did. “Yes, High Priest.”

  “I see,” said Agon. He glanced around at the other Elect for a moment before looking at Sarzen, Carnus, and Zomo again. “We have been discussing how to best deal with the Draymens threat, ever since we heard that Renuk was assassinated by a Draymens assassin. This recent attack has highlighted how important it is for us to talk about this important issue, because we do not know how much time we have left before the Draymens attack the city with a true army.”

  “I see,” said Carnus. “That is very, very good. What solutions have you come up with to defeat the Draymens? Do you have any ideas yet?”

  The Elect all looked at each other, like they were unsure if they should tell Carnus what they had thought of. That either meant it was a crazy idea or a bad one, or possibly both, and Sarzen couldn’t decide what was worse.

  “We are … divided on the issue, to put it mildly,” said Agon.

  “Divided?” repeated the Elect from before, the one that had made the rude comment. He pushed back the brim of his hat, showing his dark eyes underneath it. “We are stalled completely.”

  “What do you mean?” said Carnus in surprise. “Why are you so divided?”

  “Because we cannot agree on the best method of dealing with the Draymens menace,” said Agon. “That’s why.”

  “Why?” said Carnus. “What methods have you come up with?”

  “Half of us want to fortify the borders by adding more trained soldiers to act as guards,” said Agon, “while the other half want us to search for the Dragon Gods.”

  “The Dragon Gods are long gone,” the rude Elect from before muttered. “There’s no point in looking for them.”

  “They are still our best chance at defeating the Draymens, though,” said another Elect, a slightly younger man who was nonetheless balding. “Our armed forces have already proven to be incapable of stopping the Draymens on their own. The Dragon Gods, on the other hand, were the ones who originally drove the Draymens from this land in the first place; surely they could do it again, if we could find them.”

  All of a sudden, a loud argument erupted between the various Elect. Their loud, angry voices blended together in the Chamber, making it nearly impossible to tell what anyone was saying, at least until Agon bashed the table with a gavel loud enough to cause everyone to go silent and look at him in surprise.

  “Do you see?” said Agon to Sarzen and the others. He gestured at his fellow Elect. “We are too divided on the matter to be able to make any decision on this. And if we cannot agree on what to do next, then we cannot do anything about the Draymens threat.”

  “You mean you can’t agree on anything at all?” said Carnus. “This is ridiculous. We need a decision now. We have no idea when the Draymens will attack. It may be that they will attack tomorrow or even in the next hour. We can’t waste any of that time arguing.”

  “We know,” said Agon. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we can’t agree on anything.”

  “That’s because the plan of finding the Dragon Gods is ridiculous,” said the rude Elect, folding his arms across his chest. “No one knows where the Dragon Gods are. We have only scattered myths and legends from long ago that say they went beyond the Cursed Lands, but that is hardly specific, so we cannot expect to try to find them. Even if the Dragon Gods are still out there somewhere, it will likely take a long time for anyone we send to find them, time that could be better spent fortifying our borders and keeping the Draymens out.”

  “But that won’t help us actually defeat the Draymens for good,” the other Elect, the balding one, said. “Remember, the Draymens have almost complete control over the plains. If we just build up our defenses, but don’t send out troops into the fields to deal with them, then all we will succeed in doing is pushing back the Draymens invasion to some other point in the future. Only the Dragon Gods could help us defeat the Draymens once and for all.”

  “Again, you’re assuming we can actually find the Dragon Gods in the first place,” said the rude Elect. “Or in a timely manner. It may be that if we send out someone to search for the Dragon Gods that, by the time they return, Yores will be destroyed or under the rule of the Draymens and all of us will be dead.”

  The balding Elect opened his mouth to argue the point further, but Agon raised a hand and said, “Enough bickering. We have already gone over this discussion many times and are still no closer to coming to an agreement on it than we were before.”

  “How else do you expect us to come to an agreement if
we can’t talk about it?” said the rude Elect. “Because we also can’t simply sit with our backs to each other and hope that the other guy will give up on his opinions and agree with us.”

  “High Priest Carnus,” said Agon, looking at Carnus, “do you understand our problem? Can you help us with it, if possible?”

  Carnus stroked his chin. He looked uncomfortable with being asked for his advice on the matter, a feeling Sarzen understood, because Carnus had only been the High Priest for less than a week, yet he was now being asked to give his input on such an important decision. It made Sarzen glad that he wasn’t the High Priest, because he was certain he would not have been able to give a good answer that would satisfy all of the Elect.

  “It is a difficult dilemma,” said Carnus. “I see the pros and cons of both ideas. While I would personally like to seek the Dragon Gods, I realize that it may not be a very practical plan. On the other hand, our soldiers, as strong as they are, have already failed to beat back the Draymens invasion; it may be that they cannot.”

  None of the Elect looked happy with Carnus’s words. No surprise there; Sarzen himself didn’t like how indecisive Carnus sounded. He wished Carnus would make a decision, something that might help break the tiebreaker between the two sides of the Elect, but it was pretty clear that Carnus would not be able to do that.

  But now that Sarzen was thinking about it, a solution suddenly came to mind. He opened his mouth to say it, but then he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to speak unless spoken to, and since no one had spoken to him yet or asked his opinion on the matter, he wasn’t sure he should share it.

  But it seemed like such a good idea to him, so he said to Carnus, “High Priest, may I speak with the Elect? I have an idea that I would like to share with them.”

  Carnus looked at Sarzen with a little surprise, but also relief, like he was glad that Sarzen wanted to take the glares from the Elect off him. He nodded and said, “Very well, Sarzen, you may share your ideas with the Council.”

  Sarzen nodded in gratitude and then stepped forward. The eyes of the Elect were now on Sarzen, causing him to feel even more nervous than before. His hands felt sweaty under the watchful eyes of the Elect, which just made him feel even worse, even though he didn’t think the Elect noticed his sweaty hands.

  “Sarzen Alnem,” said Agon. “What is it that you wish to share with us?”

  “Spit it out already,” said the rude Elect in a snappy tone. “There’s no need to stand there and look awkward.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Sarzen quickly, perhaps hastily, but he kept speaking because he didn’t have any choice now. “I was thinking about the, uh, the two choices you are debating: Either find the Dragon Gods or increase the security around the borders of the mountains and city.”

  “Yes, those are our two choices,” said Agon. “What of it?”

  “I was thinking that, maybe, you don’t need to pick just one,” said Sarzen. “That the two choices aren’t mutually exclusive.”

  The Elect exchanged puzzled but intrigued looks with one another, though a few looked deeply skeptical about Sarzen’s suggestion.

  “Elaborate, young one,” said Agon. “What do you mean that they are not mutually exclusive?”

  “I mean,” said Sarzen, scratching the back of his neck, mostly out of habit than anything, “you could increase the border security and also send a small team beyond the Cursed Lands to find the Dragon Gods; that way, the mountains will be safe and protected from the Draymens invaders, but we will also have a team who might succeed in finding the Dragon Gods.”

  “Interesting idea, boy,” said the rude Elect; Sarzen wished he knew his name, because he was getting tired of thinking of him that way. “But that would be more expensive and difficult than just picking out one. We can’t spare any soldiers on a quest to find gods that may no longer even exist, not even just a handful of soldiers. We’ll need every man we can find to defend the mountains from the Draymens threat.”

  “Then don’t send any of your soldiers,” said Sarzen. He put a hand on his chest. “Send me and some of my fellow Warrior Priests, plus a mage or two. That way, you don’t need to worry about losing any precious soldiers, but you will still have people seeking out the Dragon Gods. You won’t even have to pay us to do it.”

  Sarzen was surprised at his own willingness to volunteer. He hadn’t even been planning to do it. The words just came out of his mouth without him even thinking about it. He heard Carnus and Zomo make surprised noises behind him; evidently, they hadn’t been expecting him to say that, either.

  The Elect quickly looked at each other, as if to ask if they had all heard the same thing. It was both amusing and yet at the same time bizarre how Sarzen had managed to take the Elect by surprise like this; it made him feel a little less nervous around them, knowing that they had not been expecting him to say that.

  Then a hand fell on Sarzen’s shoulder and he looked over it to see Carnus standing behind him. Unfortunately, Carnus wore a very disapproving expression on his face, which made Sarzen’s satisfaction turn to dread.

  “Elect, please excuse us for a moment,” said Carnus. “Sarzen and I need to talk for a few seconds.”

  Carnus’s grip tightened around Sarzen’s shoulder and he dragged Sarzen to the other end of the room, near the doors and away from the Elect. Zomo followed, an equally somber expression on his face, with his hands in the folds of his robes.

  “What was that?” said Carnus, taking his hand off Sarzen’s shoulder and looking at him severely.

  “What was what?” said Sarzen, though he said it more out of nervousness than anything, since he knew exactly what Carnus was talking about.

  “Volunteering to search for the Dragon Gods without my approval,” said Carnus. He glanced at the Elect, who were apparently now in deep discussion over what Sarzen had said. “I didn’t know you were going to do that.”

  “I didn’t, either, High Priest,” said Sarzen, rubbing the back of his neck. “It surprised me just as much as it surprised you. I apologize for not warning you in advance.”

  Carnus sighed in exasperation. “You should have told me. Now the Elect Council is going to assume that I agree with your plan or that I knew about it in advance.”

  “I don’t understand what is so bad about it,” said Sarzen. “Not to disrespect you, High Priest, but I am willing to search for the Dragon Gods, especially if that will save our people from the Draymens.”

  “The problem is that, as Councilman Galo said, no one knows where the Dragon Gods are,” said Carnus. “Even the Order does not have any definitive records on the matter. We have the same myths and legends as everyone else.”

  “Plus, the Order is small enough as is,” said Zomo, his voice soft. “Sending off a few of our bravest and brightest on a mission that has no guarantee of success—especially in light of a possible Draymens invasion of Ars—seems, to me, like a foolish decision, even if the Dragon Gods are out there somewhere.”

  “Zomo is correct,” said Carnus. “As much as I would like to see the Dragon Gods again, I don’t want to waste any lives on that quest without guarantee of success.”

  “That is why I volunteered to lead it,” said Sarzen, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “If necessary, I can put together a team who could do it myself. You don’t need to spare anyone else.”

  “You are just an Acolyte, Sarzen,” said Carnus. “You aren’t even a full Warrior Priest yet. These types of quests have traditionally been led by a full Warrior Priest, not an Acolyte like yourself.”

  “I know my history, High Priest,” said Sarzen. “But no one else has volunteered to do this, so that’s why I want to lead it.”

  Carnus and Zomo exchanged skeptical looks. Then Carnus said, “Even so, you should have known ahead of time how we would respond.”

  “Like I said, I didn’t even know I’d do it myself,” said Sarzen. “But please, listen and think. The people of Yores have never defeated the Draymens before. A thousand ye
ars ago, when our ancestors first came to this land, the Dragon Gods were the ones who drove the Draymens out and gave Yores to us. Do you not think they would be willing to do it again?”

  “But the people are lost and astray,” said Carnus. “Few truly believe in the Dragon Gods anymore. That is why they left in the first place; our ancestors grew proud and didn’t think they needed the Dragon Gods anymore.”

  “I might still be able to convince the Dragon Gods to help us,” said Sarzen. “I just need to find them. That’s all.”

  “You know, High Priest, I think that Sarzen has a point,” said Zomo, before Carnus could respond. “The Dragon Gods are said to be merciful and forgiving. It may be that Sarzen, if he approaches them with humility and a sincere desire for forgiveness, may be able to bring the Dragon Gods back or at least help us regain their blessing, if nothing else, which might be all we need to defend our land from the Draymens.”

  Carnus frowned, like he was annoyed that Zomo was taking Sarzen’s side on this matter. “That may be true, but at the same time, I am still wary, especially in light of Renuk’s death. The Warrior Priests need to stay together; we cannot separate, not even for a brief time.”

  “What if it is to find the Dragon Gods, though?” said Sarzen. “I agree that Warrior Priest unity is essential, but we can still be united as one even if we are on opposite sides of the world. Besides, you know me well enough to know that I would never give up or create disunity in the Order for no reason.”

  Carnus scratched the side of his head, a habit he did whenever he was thinking hard about a decision to make. Sarzen wished he could peer inside Carnus’s mind and see what he was thinking, but all he could do was wait while Carnus considered the idea.

  Finally, Carnus nodded and said, “All right. I approve of this plan. But we must also speak about it with the Elect, so let us go back over to them and see if they will agree to it.”