The Halfblood King: Book 1 of the Chronicles of Aertu

by Julian Benoit

  “A Kolixtlani assassin killed them and kidnapped the boy. I killed the assassin and took back my grandson. Once I made him safe, I travelled to Immin Bul and renewed the bindings of the Adversary.”

  “I am sorry for your loss. Does the lad have any clue as to who he is?” Gealton asked.

  “I’m certain he does now, as well as your daughter and the guards, but before now, no. We were not yet ready for this turn of events. I did not plan to seat a boy-king upon the throne of Sudea.”

  “I see your point, old friend. As joyful as this news is for Sudea, he is young and untested. Furthermore, not having grown up at court, he likely knows nothing of politics, does he?”

  “Not a bit, he would be vulnerable in his naiveté to those who would try to influence him. That is not the only concern I have, Gealton. There is another prophecy, separate from that of the King’s return and the boy may have a role in that as well.”

  “What prophecy would that be?”

  “There is an old prophecy among the elves, that upon the return to power of the Nameless One, a sorcerer of such power that the world has yet to see would stand between him and the free peoples of Aertu. Recent events have indicated that Aleron may be that sorcerer.”

  “How is that so, what events?”

  “The boy has yet to manifest any ability, but he dreams of it almost nightly. He dreams of places he has never seen, but I recognize them. In his first such dream, he saw the central fountain in your public garden, then recognized it this morning. In these dreams, he wields all types of magic equally, even blending them into new forms. A fellow sorcerer, with far greater perceptive abilities than my own, saw in him a well of power unlike anything he has seen before. All indications are that, when Aleron’s abilities manifest, they will be unlike anything the world has known.”

  “Is it possible to wield and blend multiple forms of magic? I have never heard of such a thing, even from the days when sorcerers were common in Sudea.”

  “Elves can wield the blue. Men with the ability can wield the blue or the red, though I’ve never known any to use both at the same time. The Aelient are able to use other colors, not available to us. I remember from when I was young and the Aelir still walked among us, that they could wield all the colors, but I never witnessed them blend them into new forms. They used each in its individual capacity. Aleron dreams that he can blend all the colors, even the red, into a new form, that is white in aspect. He claims the white has the power to transform one thing to another. As far as I know, only the Allfather has such power.”

  “What do you plan to do with the boy now? I sense there is danger in having him exposed this early,” Gealton asked. “If the Kolixtlanis were after him once, they likely still want him.”

  “That is my primary concern,” Hadaras agreed. “The Adversary found him once and my daughter and her husband paid for that mistake. He wanted him alive and unharmed as well. My guess is that he intended to turn him over to darkness, but to which prophecy was he reacting? If he meant to raise the heir to the throne to be loyal to him, the Adversary could have Sudea in his pocket. Likewise, if he manages to turn the loyalty of the one meant to oppose him, no one on Aertu could stand before them.”

  “So we need to keep this under wraps for now, I would say.”

  “Exactly my point,” Hadaras agreed, “we need to keep him out of the public eye, squash any rumors about what happened today and let him grow up first. When he comes into his power and matures, then he will be ready to take over the Kingdom.”

  “And so, the damage control begins, starting with those four in there.”

  Chapter 13

  Carpathday, Day 22, Growing Moon, 8760 Sudean Calendar

  “I hope the rest of your journey goes well for you Aleron,” Eilowyn told him, as he performed one last check of his mount’s tack. “It was nice having you here.”

  “Thank you Ellie. It has been…nice,” he agreed, looking up to meet her eyes. After the events four days past, he and his grandfather stayed at the palace. The Steward sent for their belongings at the Golden Dragon and they did not leave the palace grounds for two days. The guards on duty that morning were questioned, but none aside from Simeon and Hans had witnessed the event. Thankfully, the throne room was nearly empty of the public and apparently, there had been no other witnesses. Palace spies were sent about to ascertain if any new rumors abounded, about strange occurrences at the palace. They came back empty handed and after two days and three nights, they were permitted to explore the city again. Aleron couldn’t complain though. The days spent at the palace had been mostly spent with Ellie and Hans and Simeon, of course. The bodyguards were sworn to absolute secrecy on the matter of the sword and Aleron’s identity.

  “You will be on the road many months yet and it is very dangerous out there. I want you to pay attention and be careful. I want to see you again,” she said sternly. “I’m going to miss you, you big dopy farm boy!”

  “I’ll miss you too Ellie,” he answered, “and I’m not a farm boy. We still have most of a year to go, before we get home again. I’ll try to get out here to see you again after that. I can be your third cousin from Ellesfort again, if that’s all right,” he added, with a grin.

  “Whatever gets you into the palace,” she agreed. ‘Just make sure you do it before you run off and join the marines. That will take you out for another year, before I get to see you again.”

  “I’ll make sure Ellie. You can count on it.” Aleron spent many hours in counsel with his grandfather and the Steward. Together, they decided that he would go on with his plan to join the marines after his sixteenth birthday. Once he got over the shock of discovering he was a halfblood, heir to the throne and his grandfather was really a nine thousand year old elvish sorcerer, the rest of the discussion had been easy. He was going to do what he already wanted to do and they would wait for the right time to claim the throne of the most powerful kingdom on Aertu, simple.

  “You had better make sure of it farm boy and remember, it’s a lot faster to get here by boat.” His dumbfounded expression made it clear, that he hadn’t considered the fact that the trip would have only taken a week by ship, rather than the three weeks it took on horseback. “See, big dopy farm boy,” she joked, before reaching up and taking hold of both sides of his face. She stood on her toes and planted a kiss right on his lips.

  “Eilowyn!” Gealton scolded. “Let the poor lad ready his mount, for the Gods’ sake.”

  “Yes Daddy,” she acquiesced, “but he doesn’t look like he minds all that much.” Aleron was blushing and couldn’t wipe the silly grin from his face. “Come back and see me soon,” she directed at Aleron. “I can’t believe you have to go already and I miss you already,” she said, turning to go.

  “I will, Ellie, soon,” he assured her, unable to see the tear running down her cheek as she moved to join her father. She wiped it discretely before turning to face him again. Hadaras was already mounted, his goodbyes complete. Aleron mounted his horse and the pair set out, Hadaras in the lead and the packhorse trailing Aleron. They waved goodbye to Gealton, Eilowyn, Hans and Simeon. No one else was present to witness their early morning departure.

  “Safe travel, friends,” Gealton called out, “and make sure you keep that old man out of trouble, lad!”

  “I’ll do my best, Milord,” Aleron returned, “but I can’t make any promises.”

  Hadaras laughed and answered, “I think I can manage to stay out of trouble. Thank you for your hospitality, Milord.”

  “Farewell,” said Eilowyn, raising her hand to wave and trying to maintain a cheerful expression, with little success.

  “Goodbye, Milady,” Hadaras replied.

  “Goodbye, Ellie. I will return soon,” Aleron answered in turn.

  As the pair of riders moved off towards the back gate of the palace compound, the Steward said to his daughter, “Do not worry Ellie; he will be back for you. I am certain of it.”

  “How can you be sure of that Father?” s
he asked. “He’s going to travel for a year, see new places and meet new girls. He’s a halfblood and he’s going to the elvish lands. Who’s to say he won’t find an elf maid to be his queen. That’s what he should do, to reestablish the Halfblood line, not marry a simple mortal girl.”

  “Dearest girl, I saw how he looks at you since the moment he met you. He will be back for you,” her father reassured her. “The Halfblood Caste has been diminished for three thousand years and will not be renewed with a single marriage. All the children of all the high houses would need to choose elven mates to reestablish the caste viably and that simply will not happen. That was the product of a bygone age. If the king’s line were to choose only elven mates, the royal line would become elvish, not human and the people will not stand for that.”

  “I suppose that makes sense, but it still doesn’t guarantee he won’t find someone he likes more.”

  “Ellie, dear, even if I were to confine him to the palace grounds, there is no guarantee against that. You can’t keep him prisoner and expect love to be true,” her father instructed. “Who knows, maybe you will be the one to change your mind.”

  “That won’t happen, Father. I will wait for him,” she replied, adamantly.

  The heavy iron portcullis lifted to allow their passage, the guards staring steely eyed into the city as they passed. The back gate of the palace compound opened onto the wide flagstone streets of the Noble Quarter. Ancient stone mansions lined the streets, most dating back to the period in which the noble houses were of the Halfblood Caste. After the devastation of the Great War, many of the noble houses dwindled and died out and then the remaining ones were forced to intermarry with the common folk to avoid inbreeding. Thus, the Halfblood Caste ceased to exist just two generations after the war. The elvish traits of longevity and sorcery do not consistently carry to those only one-quarter elven, so the nobles became no different from the common man. Hadaras guided them left, on a route that would take them from the Noble Quarter and loop them through the Merchant’s Quarter back to the gate. “I think she likes me, Grandfather,” Aleron stated, the foolish grin coming back to his face.

  “What tipped you off, lad, the kiss or the tearful goodbye?” Hadaras asked, sarcastically. “How much do you like her in return?”

  “I like her a lot, Grandfather. She’s different from any of the girls I know back home. She’s smart and funny. She can read, Sudean and some Elvish too. And, I got the idea that even without Simeon and Hans around, she wouldn’t be quick for a roll in the hay, if you know what I mean.”

  “Have you done much hay-rolling, my boy?” Hadaras questioned, one eyebrow raised.

  “No Grandfather,” he replied, “that was supposed to be this summer.”

  Hadaras laughed heartily and for what seemed to Aleron too long, before saying, “It’s good to know that I’m keeping you out of trouble, lad, good to know.” He continued chuckling as they rode along. A bell or so later, they made their way back to the market square they had entered through a week prior. The early morning throngs, mostly farmers and merchants with goods for the market, were already pressing into the city. The outbound gate being mostly clear, they carefully picked their way around the crowd spreading over the square. Soon they made it to the open road, headed west.

  ***

  Far away, in the port city of Zyx, capital of Adar, Zormat knew in his heart that something was amiss. Four days past, while still at sea, his fair mood went suddenly dark and he could not ascertain why it would be so. Favorable winds brought them to the port days ahead of schedule and his initial meeting with the Khan and his Chief Necromancer this morning went very well. The faith was stronger here than he expected to find, it just took a different form than the one in Kolixtlan. Here, rather than the mass sacrifices of the Kolixtlani priests, the necromancers drew the maximum power from each death, by prolonging the process of dying, through torture and starvation. It was a much more efficient strategy, well suited to lower available population of Adar. All was going better than he had hoped, but he could not shake the sudden sense of dread he was feeling. I need to get over it. I am the most powerful being walking free on the face of this world. I am the son of a god and I have much work to do. In five days, we set sail for Thallasia.

  Chapter 14

  Corballday, Day 9, Haymaking Moon, 8760 Sudean Calendar

  One day shy of three weeks from the day they left Arundell, found them in the wild foothills of the Blue Mountains. For the first week, it became steadily warmer as they travelled north, until they began the steady climb to the mountains and the temperature stabilized, though they still travelled further north each day. A week past, on Aleron’s fifteenth birthday, they descended into the hot steamy valley of the Fall River, crossing the ancient stone bridge over the yawning chasm, with the water rushing two hundred feet below. Grandfather told him then, that the dwarves built the bridge, over six thousand years ago, to facilitate trade with Arundell and it stood today as a testament to their skill. Climbing out of that valley brought them back to cooler air and the trip had been reasonably comfortable since. “How high up are we now?” Aleron asked, curious as he gazed at the Blue Mountains looming before them. “And how long before we find another village?” They had travelled all morning without seeing any others on the road and passing no settlements. The road was well travelled, following the Arun Valley all the way to Dhargul, the dwarf capital at the headwaters of the Arun River.

  “I believe we are over nine hundred feet above the level of the sea. As to your second question, we are about a day from Freemarket, the last settlement of men before we reach the Southern Kingdom.” Just then, an arrow flew from the dark forest, straight at Aleron. He barely raised his buckler in time to block and the bodkin neatly pierced the shield, vambrace and forearm together. He froze, momentarily, at the sight of the bloody arrowhead sticking two inches through his inner forearm. “Goblins!” Hadaras shouted. His sword was already out and he chopped the black-fletched shaft from the boy’s buckler. “Draw your blade, lad and be at the ready!” He gestured and raised a dome of shimmering blue around them. More arrows rained down upon them, but were incinerated upon contact with the dome of magical energy, as was the first goblin warrior to charge the pair. The momentum of his charge carried him headlong into the blue light and they witnessed his body dissolve into gray ash, from front to back. This stopped the others from charging and they surrounded the pair instead, shooting the occasional arrow and hurling the odd spear, only watch them flare against the dome. “Leave the arrow in for now, boy; it plugs the hole. Are you well enough to shoot your bow?”

  “I think so, Grandfather,” Aleron answered. “It really doesn’t hurt.” He moved to retrieve his bow from his saddle, the quiver already on his hip. The goblins had them completely encircled now. There were nineteen in all, along with a half dozen of their half-tame wolf dogs.

  “They know I can only maintain this for a little while and they will wait until I tire and falter. Take out as many as you can before then.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Aleron replied, as he dismounted with bow in hand. He winced as the bow forced his forearm to twist against the shaft piercing it. I’ll have to remember not to do that again. Luckily, he was wearing a Chebek forearm buckler, with an arrow pass cutout, so he did not need to remove it to shoot.

  The goblins jeered at him, one yelling, “What you gonna do, Man-child, kill us all with your little bow.” That one died with an arrow up one apelike nostril and a second one went down with a shaft through the eye.

  “As a matter of fact, yes,” he replied, as a third took an arrow through the heart. With three of their comrades down in just a few seconds, the goblins began shouting in their own tongue and scurrying for cover. The dogs still circled the perimeter and Aleron picked them off, one by one, as he circled just within the blue light. A goblin tried to climb into a tree and Aleron shot him through the armpit. It fell squealing to the ground. It was then, that Aleron noticed something, tendrils of blue
light connecting every living thing in the vicinity to Hadaras. The energy the old sorcerer wielded was life force, concentrated and directed. He was even drawing it from the goblins. He saw too, that the dead and dying goblins and dogs had a different energy about them. Along with their actual blood, there was a crimson glow about them and as he looked about, the faint crimson was present all about him. It was the color of death, just as natural as that of life, the two existing side-by-side. He stretched out his hand toward the pool of red about a recently deceased goblin and found he could move it to his will. He set down the bow, closed his eyes, felt for the red energy all around him and began drawing it to himself.

  “Aleron, no!” Hadaras shouted, finally noticing what the boy was doing. “You cannot wield that magic, it’s too dangerous!”

  “Trust me, Grandfather; it’s as natural as rain, just a little unruly.” He drew the red energy to himself and formed a vision in his mind. He directed the red magic and it obeyed, forming a deep pool along the bottom edge of the blue dome and then sheeting up the dome, combining with the blue to form a deep maroon color. “Do you remember what I used this color for in my dream, Grandfather?”

  After a moment, he replied, “Yes.”

  “Good, on the count of three, let go of your magic and let me take over, all right?”

  “All right, Aleron, on the count of three,” Hadaras agreed, raising his sword to guard, ready for the worst.

  “One…two…three!” Aleron counted, shouting the last number. He took control of the power, as Hadaras released his grip. The maroon dome reformed into a torus and flashed outward. Trees uprooted as a wall of earth and timber moved outward in a wave. They heard the muffled screams, as the remaining goblins were buried and crushed. The unmounted horses spooked, but quickly discovered that there was nowhere for them to run. They stood upon a small flat island, at the center of a massive crater, plowed into the bedrock. Aleron dropped to one knee, a sudden wave of dizziness overcoming him. As was common, his first time wielding magic left the boy physically spent. Eventually, he would need to learn to meter the flow of energy through his body, to be able to maintain sorcerous effort over time.