Kingdom's Forge: Book 01 - Paladin's Redemption

by Kade Derricks

  The path led to a second enchanted door, and Sera led Dain through it and on into the soaring keep. She navigated through several corridors before they finally entered an expansive and nearly empty hall. Two wood elves waited there.

  Sera’s father sat, propped upright, in a simple oak chair at the center of an elevated dais. He straightened himself at their entrance and watched them approach with clear eyes. Sera’s mother stood at his left side and held his hand in hers. They were alone.

  “The Deliverer,” the king said. The words echoed throughout the room.

  Sera stopped well short of the dais and bowed deeply to her parents. She shot a glance over at Dain, implying for him to do the same. Dain did not bow, but instead knelt on one knee, placing both fists down on the ground and lowering his head in reverence.

  “My lord, may the Creator and his Light bless your kingdom,” he said.

  “Now there…there is a salute I have not seen in many years,” the king said. “Please rise, knight.”

  Dain arose to stand beside Sera and waited for her father to speak further. He hadn’t been called a knight in many years. The word felt foreign to him, like trying on an old, stiff garment. He held himself up a bit straighter, a bit prouder. Sera drew close to his side.

  “My daughter tells me your name is Dain. I am Teldrain, ruler of the wood elves and protector of this land. My healers claim you did the impossible, healing what should have killed me.”

  “I am pleased that I was able to perform what little service I could, my lord. Your injuries have healed well, then?”

  “Well enough. My family tells me I won’t be out riding for some time, but never mind that now. Am I to understand you also healed my granddaughter and defended her from her enemies? Healer and defender both…” The king scratched at his chin with long, thin fingers. “You seem very capable, for a human,” he finished.

  “He is capable, father,” Sera said.

  “Do you know much of elves, Dain?” Teldrain asked.

  “I fought with, and then later against, elves far to the south in service with the paladins. They were not wood elves or Golden, but grey,” Dain said.

  Teldrain nodded. “Very far south, it must have been. Few in my kingdom know of the grey elves’ existence. Most believe Wood and Golden are the only two races.”

  Dain glanced to his side. Sera was looking up at him, an expression of surprise writ large across her face.

  “I have called you here for a specific purpose, knight. My queen, Selasa, can glimpse the future, as can Jin, my granddaughter. Each of them tells me you are here for a reason, although the precise nature of your presence remains masked to them. They have asked me to tell you of the valley’s history. They claim it is critical for my people’s future. In respect of their talents, I will tell you what very few others now know. Secrets of history hidden from even Sera until now.”

  Teldrain gestured for Sera and Dain to seat themselves at a table near the dais. With his queen’s assistance, he climbed down and sat in his own chair near them. A silence settled over the hall before the king spoke again, as if the stones themselves awaited his words.

  “Contrary to the stories we tell our young, we wood elves were not the first to settle here. Great armies have fought over this valley for thousands of years,” Teldrain began. “We have found their buildings and bones and rusted armor buried in its black earth. The valley holds enormous wealth for whomever controls it. I speak not only of the mineral wealth humans covet, nor the valley’s vast forests or lush farmlands. Though the land here is rich and blessed by nature. No, there is another force here—a great power that draws mortals in like a magnet draws iron. We do not understand why it acts as it does but below us magic flows up from deep within the earth like a geyser, pooling and gathering all around. Streams and rivers here flow with it, the land hums with it, the air itself crackles with it. This power built the great kingdoms here, along with their armies. These kingdoms were gone and forgotten when our ancestors arrived. They found the land swarming with demons. Demons that were drawn to and feasted on the valley’s deep magics.”

  Sera leaned forward in her chair, and the queen slipped away into a room, opposite the door, silent as a shadow.

  “Most were simply mindless beasts, content to ravage the land, each other, and anyone foolish enough to come here. Some, though, were changed by the power they feasted on, made larger, more intelligent by it. These creatures were the truly dangerous. I have heard this can happen from time to time in other lands as well?”

  Dain nodded. He had faced a few demons in his travels.

  No, they hadn’t all been mindless. Without thinking he rubbed at an old scar on his elbow.

  “Good,” Teldrain continued, “You understand, then. We wood elves believe the Creator made us to fight the demons—that is our holy mission, to destroy them. For many years our ancestors fought the demons, trying to overcome them and cleanse these lands. They failed. They simply could not match the abilities of the more intelligent monsters. These demons had used the others to create a great stone well, deep underground, thousands of feet down, tapping directly into the more concentrated power below. And with the power they drew from the well, they could not be overcome.

  “Finally, my own honored ancestor, the first wood elf king, led a strike down into the well to sever the demons from their greatest source of power. At great cost he succeeded, and after this first decisive victory the wood elves fought a long, bloody war before driving the last demons up into the mountains. They surrounded them atop one of the icy peaks and slaughtered the last of them.

  “Victorious, the wood elves settled the lower part of the valley to build Teran as our capital. For centuries now we have protected the land, guarding it against the demons’ return. The orcs arrived later and we held them up in the high, cold mountains, keeping them at bay. Over time, an uneasy, unspoken balance was reached, and we had relative peace in the valley for many years. Only an occasional raid disturbed either side.”

  Selasa returned. She carried a small plate filled with fruits and cheeses and cuts of meat. She set the tray down, stood beside her husband, and reached down to pat the king’s shoulder. Teldrain paused. He drank from a plain wooden cup and smiled up at her and then continued.

  “The land healed from the demon’s poisons and filth. We aided it by planting and nurturing the great trees and fields. We multiplied and gave birth to a new nation. But over time, the magic affected us as it had the demons. Before settling here, we were a warlike people with an army and a few powerful spellcasters. The valley changed us. As generations passed, more and more of our people gained varying degrees of spellcrafting. Today, half our children are born with abilities of some kind, abilities over the natural world. Over earth and air and water and life. Not the arcane powers only a few of our race had possessed before. But while the valley gave to us, it took back as well. We lost our knowledge for forging steel and mastering stone. Science was virtually abandoned and spellcraft reigned supreme.

  “After many hundreds of years, the golden elves arrived. A decade-long drought had ruined their homeland. A few thousand survived and journeyed here, seeking a new land, a refuge. In kinship with our fellow elves, we helped them build a colony, Mirr, in the northern half of the valley. The Golden helped us fight the orcs at first, and we drove our enemies ever higher into the mountains. Unlike us, the Golden still had their knowledge of steel, stone, and arcane magic. They were powerful allies. With their soldiers fighting beside ours, the orcs were helpless.”

  “Many hoped for a new era of peace and prosperity through cooperation with the newcomers. But it was not to last. As the golden multiplied and more survivors arrived, they took more and more land for cultivation. Wide swaths of the forest were cleared so food crops could be planted. Gradually, they pushed our border southward.”

  Teldrain stopped talking. He took another drink and patted the queen’s hand on his shoulder.

  “The wood elf leaders of the day
held a great gathering, but failed to agree on what to do. Finally, after the Golden had claimed a third of the valley, we sought to establish a permanent boundary between us. My father, King Wyrl, and the golden elf king, Ulric, met in Mirr to set the border. They also planned, in secret, to unite our peoples so that the border would eventually become unnecessary. Ulric promised his son, Elam, to my older sister, Yvere, in a marriage that would bind our peoples together. But Elam had his own plans. He rejected Yvere, and on the eve of the ceremony, he…” The king stopped, gazing down at his feet for long moments before raising his head again. “He murdered both her and my father to declare war on the wood elves. King Ulric tried stopping his son, but was murdered as well. Elam’s men killed or captured thousands of unsuspecting wood elves by ambush and assassination that day. He put his captives to death, then mounded up the bodies and put them on display as a warning of what would happen to those who resisted.”

  The old elf paused to wipe at his eyes.

  “We have been fighting for the last fifty years to avenge that day and to take our lands back. Eventually, humans settled the lands to the west, forming first Ghent then later Arctanon. We had little traffic with either until the discovery of gold in the eastern valley and the founding of Galena. The Golden now control the old road, and are using the fares from travelers and freighters to fund their war against both us and the orcs, buying ever stronger weapons and armor to strengthen their troops. We are trapped. Wild forests and the great ocean are to the south, the Golden to the north, humans on the west, and orcs in the eastern mountains. As we’ve lost so many warriors to war with the orcs and Golden, our population has declined.

  “After protecting the valley for thousands of years, we are losing this war, and my people must consider leaving if any are to survive,” Teldrain concluded.

  Silence rang out once more in the great hall.

  “Father, surely there is something…surely all is not lost?” Sera asked, her voice thin.

  “Your brothers and I have had this conversation many times. They still have faith we can win. The faith of proud men, of young men. I will not take that faith from them, but in my heart I know that they are wrong,” the king said.

  “Mother has seen it then, in her visions? This disaster for us?”

  “I have seen it and much else, Sera,” Selasa answered. “Jin’s visions speak true, as well—Dain is her protector, and through the three of you a shattered remnant of our people will be spared. And you must accept the fate we have discussed.”

  Sera lowered her head in quiet obedience, her lips a hard line. Dain wondered what other visions had Selasa shared with or kept from her.

  Dain faced the king. “My lord, I am a simple man,” he began. “I was removed from the Paladin Order, stripped of honor and homeland. I speak freely of this dishonor and do not wish to give you false hope. I am pleased to have done what I could for you, but I can’t save an entire people. I have no talents or hidden abilities beyond a bit of crude healing and some skill at arms. I am no one’s savior. I’m just here to gain enough wealth to buy my own land and settle down.”

  “It matters little what you consider yourself, knight,” Selasa said. “You chose your fate when you saved my granddaughter, whether you knew it then or not. You are bound to us. Fate itself won’t let you escape.”

  “And as for honor, honor is something that can never be given or taken from you. It comes from within,” Teldrain added.

  “I’m just here for the gold. I am bound to no one,” Dain said, almost to himself. He felt his face flush and his anger rise. He wanted no part of a war with elves or orcs or anyone else. He had seen his fill of war. Enough to last ten lifetimes.

  “Let us have a deal then, human. I will give you gold, gems—all that you desire, as you saved the lives of both my granddaughter and myself. Yes, all that you desire, but you have to remain with us for one month so that I have ample time to gather it.” Teldrain smiled.

  Selasa and Sera wore identical expressions of unease. Clearly the king hadn’t discussed this with either of them. Dain opened his mouth to speak, but Teldrain spoke again before he could answer.

  “My oldest son, Jace, whom you met the other night, will be outside to escort you back to the cabin. The queen and I still have much to say to Sera.”

  Dain glanced over at Sera. She wasn’t looking at him; her expression was full of dread.

  He sighed under his breath. From the king’s tone, arguing to stay, or for that matter arguing against the fate they believed in, would be pointless. He saluted again, placing fist to heart, before heading outside. He closed the hall’s door behind him and was met by Sera’s brother.

  Jace never spoke as he paddled back upriver to the first dock. Once there, the elf set a quick pace through the city’s maze of ladders and bridges up to the mouth of the cavern. And he left Dain there without a word, and returned back down into the city. Dain retraced the path to the cabin and found two guards stationed there, watching over Jin as she slept.

  He sat at the small table and tried to continue reading Garrett Loor’s exploits, but couldn’t keep his mind on the task. Teldrain’s words and those of the queen lingered, setting his mind racing anew. The visions had to be false.

  Savior? He wasn’t anyone’s savior.

  Koren had news.

  Full of purpose, she marched with what she had learned toward the castle.

  Dressed in her skintight leathers, blotched with blood, both dried and still slippery wet, her presence sent guardsmen scurrying to their posts. Without exception they turned their eyes from her, finding sudden interest in the paving stones. She saw a glimpse of herself in a mirror, just inside the tower’s entryway. Dried bits of flesh and bone clung to her blond hair and a wide, crimson smear started at her left temple and ended at her pronounced chin, contrasting sharply to her ivory skin and fierce blue eyes.

  She almost laughed. Let them think what they would. Let the stories about her grow. She cared nothing for the opinions of others, only for their obedience.

  The captive humans her father brought home had been unable to help her find Haldrin’s killers. She’d spent days torturing them, hoping to glean something of use. At her command, wood elf slaves healed them so she could inflict more pain and punishment before their eventual and inevitable deaths.

  With the humans Koren had used her favorite techniques. She tortured them two or three at a time in racks and cages. She knew her hobby well. Seeing close comrades being torn apart always loosened the tongues of any survivors. The fear of pain was even worse than the actual pain itself. They would tell her anything, anything to avoid the pain or to stop it, but in the end, not one had known of her brother or his killers.

  They had begged for mercy, but Koren had none for their pathetic race. Her people were the only true people, and those not of her race should be cleansed. She felt no pity for lesser things, only revulsion.

  The golden elf border guards and the wood elf slaves hadn’t produced any leads either and Koren was used to getting her way. The failure in finding Haldrin’s killer gnawed at her like a termite eating at wood. She rarely felt the sting of failure.

  After her supply of subjects was exhausted she had gone down to the slave auction and found a single wood elf for sale. She paid handsomely for him—the only captive taken in the last two weeks.

  Frustrated at her previous playthings’ failure to provide anything of value, Koren worked him over much quicker than normal. Usually, she preferred to take her time, drawing the process out for maximum satisfaction. This time though, she took him into her special cellar, chained him down, and began removing appendages. Her saw and clippers were sharp and they did their work well. After the fingers and ears, she started on his toes.

  “Grant me death. Just kill me!” the wood elf had screamed.

  “For that, you’ll have to offer me something better than the pleasure of your screams. Tell me what do you have to barter with, my pet?”

  “Barter? Not
hing. I have nothing you and your kind haven’t already taken,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “What is your name, then?” she’d asked.

  “Caleb.”

  “Caleb, draw me a map to Teran and I promise to kill you quickly.”

  “No, no wood elf has ever betrayed our kingdom,” the captive had said.

  “Then you are of little use to me, Caleb,” Koren replied before punching him in the mouth. Her leather gauntlets split his lips and sent blood spraying. A tooth fell free, bouncing and rattling on the floor. Blood and spit dribbled along after it.

  Koren had asked that question hundreds of times. No wood elf had ever answered it. The golden elves knew Teran was deep in the heavy forests to the south, and had sent troops searching for it on occasion. Not one single soldier or scout had ever returned. Most now believed the city was only a myth. Koren knew better.

  Enraged at being denied again, she took up her whip. Three tails dangled from the end, each tipped with a jagged metal spike. The first stroke shredded Caleb’s clothing from his body. By the fifth, his back was a ribboned mass of twisted flesh.

  “I will ask you to reconsider drawing that map, Caleb,” Koren had said. She set down the whip and sat on a small wooden stool facing him. Caleb sagged in his chains, panting. Noticing some of his blood on her gloved hands, she began drawing on the floor with it to amuse herself. Caleb groaned.

  “I doubt you know who killed my brother, Haldrin, either?” she asked idly.

  “Dnnnn,” he mumbled.

  “What?” She leaned closer.

  “Dnnnnn,” he said again between swollen and bleeding lips.

  “What did you say, worm? Damn you!” Koren screamed in his ear. Grabbing his hair, she yanked his head back and listened for an answer. “Give me the name and I’ll end your pain quickly. Keep it from me and I’ll have healers save you. We can play my little games together for years.”