Sword of Spirit (Salvation of Solandeus)

by David J. VanBergen Jr.

  While Mat waited for the first thief to regain consciousness, he straightened up the campsite and wondered what forced these two men into such desperate measures. Were they honest men who had turned to crime out of necessity? Where they simply following evil desires in their heart? Regardless of how they had gotten there, he didn’t want them to die and the weight of the man’s death was heavy on Mat’s heart.

  While he was thinking about the situation and cleaning up the campsite, he heard the man that was still alive stir. He walked over to him and threw a cup of water in his face to wake him up fully. The man shook water from his face and looked up at Mat with hatred in his eyes.

  “You know I could have easily killed you,” Mat said. Fortunately for you, I value human life. Unfortunately for your partner, I value my life as well and in defending it, I was forced to kill him. The wound in your shoulder is clean and I have bandaged you up. In the morning, I will take you with me to the monastery and turn you over to them.”

  “I’m gonna kill you,” the man spat. “If you think you can get rid of me this easily, you have another thing coming. I’m gonna make you beg me to kill you.”

  Mat was in no mood to listen to idle threats and walked over to the man and gagged him.

  “I pray that you reconsider,” he told the man, “because I really don’t want to have to kill you too.”

  After saying a quick prayer for the dead man’s soul, Mat actually fell asleep quickly. He slept with his right hand on his sword and the loaded mini-crossbow in his left hand. The lack of sleep and stress of the previous few days must have taken their toll on him because he slept through the night without dreaming and woke at dawn refreshed and ready to put the night before behind him.

  Mat ate a quick breakfast then he saddled up Spirit and draped the dead man over it. He cut the ropes tying the other man’s feet together and attached his bound hands to the horse’s saddle with a short rope. Once everything was loaded up and the captured thief was tied to the saddle, they started off at a brisk pace. He led the way on foot and never looked back to see if the captured thief was keeping up on his own or was being dragged along. He had every intention of making it to the monastery before noon and if that meant dragging the thief, so be it.

  Chapter 9

  After almost getting caught for the second time, Persephonie changed her tactics. She wanted to know as much as she could about Mat, but it was not essential that she follow his every move. She continued to follow him, but from a distance. She also focused on his thoughts and feelings a lot more than she had previously. It was obvious to her that he had a lot of natural talent and could be a powerful Druid if properly trained. However, he was completely raw and had no idea what he was capable of, while she had been trained in the Druid arts since she was 12 years old. This should give her the upper hand when it came to avoiding detection, and she was determined to use that to her advantage.

  The same afternoon she had almost been caught the second time, she followed Mat to the Mercantile District completely undetected. She watched him go into a weapons and armor shop and went into a dress shop next door to try to sense what he was doing. While she was unable to get any definite ideas as to what was being discussed, she could hear there was some sort of commotion and sensed Mat’s confusion when he left. After he left the armory, she went into it to see if she could learn more, but when she entered the shop she found it to be completely empty. There was a fascinating battle ax laying on the counter, but there was no sign of the shop owner; after calling out several times, she gave up and left.

  By the time Persephonie left the Impenetrable Shield, she could no longer sense or see where Mat was. She wasn’t too concerned, though, because she knew he would eventually wind up back at the Roaring Dragon, so she headed that way to wait for him. Once she got there, she learned that Mat had paid for his stay and ordered travel rations to be delivered to the stables in the morning; this meant he was planning to leave. She didn’t know where he was going, but she was going to be ready to follow him in the morning.

  In order to get ready, she forsook watching Mat for the night and walked across town to the stable where she was keeping her horse, Jade. Jade was a pure white mare that she acquired when she made it to the mainland of Solandeus a year ago. She had the most unusual green eyes Persephonie had ever seen. She had been drawn immediately to her, and they had formed an immediate bond. Jade was not only her horse, for the last year she had been her best friend.

  She spent some time brushing her and making sure all of her gear was in good shape for the trip. After arranging for travel rations to be delivered in the morning, Persephonie found a place in the hayloft above the stables to get a few hours of sleep.

  As she drifted off to sleep, Persephonie thought about all the lonely nights she had spent like this. It wasn’t just the last year that was lonely for her, it was essentially her whole life. During her six years training to be a Druid, she was around a lot of people, but at the end of the day she still felt alone because she couldn’t share with anybody what she was secretly working on.

  Before becoming a Druid, she was even lonelier. Her mother had passed away when she was very young, and her father had raised her. He did his best and she loved him for it, but he was a fisherman and was gone most of the time. He cried a little when she left to become a Druid, but she thought he was probably relieved to not have to worry about her any more.

  She never saw her dad again after she started training as a Druid; he had died in a shipwreck when she was 16. At times she felt sadness, but it was more for the idea of what she missed out on than sadness for any specific loss. After indulging in melancholy for a few minutes, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and focused on the journey ahead.

  The following morning, she woke before sunrise and saddled Jade for the journey. She left her there while she walked back to the stables at the Roaring Dragon to see what direction Mat would head. After seeing that he was heading east, she returned to get Jade and rode out of town after him.

  She followed him east to Port Ludenberg then north towards the mountains of the Great Divide. The first three days and nights went smoothly, and she was able to follow at a safe distance and avoid detection. By that point, she was pretty sure he was traveling to the Basilica Monastery where she had obtained the bracers, and she knew there was a good chance that he would learn about her from the monks. She had used her Druid powers to encourage people to forget she was there, but somebody would probably remember her.

  By the end of the fourth day, they had entered the mountains and were only a few hours from the monastery. Mat had found a spot to camp and was brushing his horse when she spotted him and hid a safe distance away. As he finished taking care of his horse and headed back to the fire, she sensed two other people in the woods close by. She tied up Jade and crept towards the camp to keep an eye on what was happening.

  She was considering how to warn Mat without revealing herself when she noticed him pause and change what he was doing. From her days of watching him, she realized this meant that he was also aware of the other people so she relaxed a little, at least until she saw them emerge from the trees and it became obvious that they were planning to rob him.

  She had run into men like these multiple times over the last year while she was traveling. A lone traveler was always a target for thieves, and a young lady by herself was even more of one. She had cracked quite a few skulls with her staff and had shot a couple with her bow, but had never had to kill anybody. She wasn’t sure if this instance would turn out that way.

  She watched from the shadows trying to decide how to help him without revealing herself and decided that helping him was more important than staying hidden. Before she could take any action, however, Mat quickly defeated both men. One of them was definitely dead, and the other one appeared to be unconscious with a crossbow bolt in his shoulder. She didn’t think he was dead but didn’t know how he could be unconscious like that if he was still alive.

  As
she looked at the aftermath of the fight, she could sense that Mat was very upset by the situation. She could feel his internal turmoil and knew that he was not a person who enjoyed combat and the taking of human life. She watched with compassion as he dropped to his knees and got sick; she was impressed when he cleaned the wounds of the man whom he shot with the crossbow.

  As she observed his actions after the battle, she knew he was a young man of noble spirit, and she was certain he was destined to reassemble the Armor of God and save his people. She vowed to watch over him and protect him as he slept that night and knew that the time was soon coming when she would have to reveal herself to him and fully commit to supporting his quest, even if it meant being banished from the Druid Order. She only hoped he would accept her help and not shun her because she had not come to him up front.

  - - - - - - - - - -

  The following morning, Persephonie watched Mat walk out of camp leading his horse with the dead man draped over the saddle and the second man walking behind the horse, hands bound together and tied to the saddle with a short rope. She followed at a close distance to make sure he made it the rest of the way without any more problems. After he entered the monastery, she made camp within sight of it to wait for him to come out.

  While she waited, she spent her time reflecting on the journey so far. She knew he was seeking information about the bracers and would probably learn about the Armor of God when he was inside. He might even learn of the prophecies about him. All in all, her plan seemed to be working, and she was excited to see where Mat would head next.

  By the third day, she started to get worried. She had spent each day watching the main gate of the monastery waiting for Mat to emerge and start his quest in earnest. She felt better about her involvement and thought she might be able to stay secret and avoid risking her status as a Druid. When the gates opened midway through the afternoon, she was more than ready to get going, but when she saw the party of two that was leaving, her heart fell.

  The first man out was fully armored and riding one of the largest war horses she had ever seen. He looked to be a stern man and did not appear to be in a good mood. It was the rider on the second horse that sent a sense of panic through her. Mat was on his horse being led by the first man. His hands were chained together and tied to his saddle. His head was down, his clothes were dirty, and he appeared to have gotten very little sleep or food since she last saw him. She didn’t understand what was going on, but knew she had to do something to fix it.

  There was only one road to the monastery so she knew where they were going to travel. Given the time of day, it was likely that they would make camp at the same place Mat had when he was attacked by the thieves. She returned to her own small, hidden camp to retrieve Jade and her supplies then made her way back to that camp.

  By the time she caught up with the two men, it was getting dark and they had stopped at the campsite as she had predicted. There was a fire lit, and she smelled something cooking. She tied up her horse and approached the camp on foot. As she got closer she could hear the two men conversing.

  “You have to believe me, I didn’t steal the bracers. Somebody left them in my room while I was sleeping,” Mat explained.

  “So you want me to believe that armor that has been stored safely at MY monastery for the last 300 years magically appeared in your room, and you had nothing to do with the disappearance,” the knight replied. “You claim that somebody left them in your room and has been following you ever since, yet you have never seen that person.”

  “But that’s the truth,” Mat pleaded. “I don’t know who left them for me, but I know they are following me still.”

  “Well, you better hope they show up soon,” the knight replied, “because once we get to Port Ludenberg and I turn you over to the constable, you will be in a lot of trouble if you don’t have a better story than that. Do you know what the penalty is for stealing a religious artifact?”

  “Please, if you’re out there, help me. Tell this man the truth!” Mat pleaded as he looked around the campsite. He seemed to look right at her, but she knew that was probably just her guilty conscious. Either way, it was time to act. She couldn’t let him be punished for something she did. If he was going to save the kingdom, he certainly couldn’t do it while rotting in a dungeon. She only hoped she wouldn’t have to take his place in a cold, dark cell.

  “He’s telling the truth,” Persephonie said as she stepped into the firelight. “He didn’t take the bracers. I did.”

  Chapter 10

  Mat sat in a large, padded chair facing the door waiting for someone to come talk to him. He had arrived at the Basilica Monastery shortly after noon and turned over the thieves to the monks: one for burial and one for incarceration. After asking to speak with somebody about mystical armor, he was ushered into this room and told that someone would be with him shortly. Apparently, their definition of shortly differed greatly from his, because he had been sitting there by himself for over an hour and was starting to get bored.

  The room contained thousands of books on built-in book shelves that stood from floor to ceiling on the two side walls. The back wall was dominated by a large window that overlooked the mountains and had a large, intricately-carved dark wooden desk in front of it. The desk appeared to have been regularly used because there were papers strewn all over it. The door he was staring at was a large, plain windowless wood door. When the door slammed open, he jumped up, lost his balance, and fell right back into the chair awkwardly.

  The man who walked into the room was dressed in full chain mail armor and appeared to be very angry. He carried a battle helmet in his left hand and looked like he was ready to draw his sword and take out his anger on whomever happened to be in his way.

  “You better have a good explanation for marching in here demanding to know about things that you have no business asking about!” the man yelled as he strode towards Mat.

  Mat knew that this monastery housed a large number of knights, but he didn’t expect to be talking to a knight, and he certainly didn’t think he was going to be confronted by an angry knight.

  “Sir, I don’t know what I did to offend, but I just wanted to learn more about mystical armor and I was told this order would be a good place to start,” Mat replied as calmly as he could manage.

  “Well, you better speak quickly before I throw you out or throw you in the dungeon. This is not a topic spoken about lightly since the theft a month ago of armor we have been in possession of for 300 years,” the man said. “I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now, but you better clear things up quickly or we are going to have problems you and I!”

  Mat didn’t know what had happened here, but, somehow, he knew this man was referring to the bracers he now possessed. He knew he wouldn’t get anywhere without being completely honest, so he turned around, opened his bag, and pulled out the bracers.

  “Sir, you have to believe me,” Mat said as he turned around holding the bracers. “I have no idea how these came to be in my possession, but I think these may be what you are missing.”

  “Son,” the man replied, “I think you better tell me how those came to be in your possession. Your answers will have a direct bearing on whether you leave here today in chains or not.”

  With nothing to gain by hiding things, Mat told the man everything that had happened since he awoke in the middle of the night to find the bracers in his room. He told the man about the dreams he had and the feelings that the bracers were meant for him and were drawing him in. When he described the old man at the Impenetrable Shield, he noticed the man nodded to himself slightly and wondered what he knew about the crazy old man.

  “Sir, now that I have told you everything I know, can you tell me more about these bracers?” Mat asked after he finished telling his story.

  For a minute, Mat thought he was going to refuse, but then he started to speak softly. “Four weeks ago I was out on a training exercise with most of the knights stationed here,” he started. �
��When I returned, I learned we had been visited by a Druid who said the prophesied one had been found and needed the bracers. The Druid disappeared and so did the bracers. Nobody remembers anything about the visit including what the Druid looked like.”

  “How is that possible?” Mat asked.

  “Druids have special abilities,” he replied. “They can sense people’s thoughts and feelings and, with training, can learn to control, or at least influence, people’s thoughts and actions. They seem to have a special bond with almost any living thing. What I don’t understand is why a Druid would have been here. As a rule, they avoid the affairs of the world and stay isolated on their island out in the Westyros Sea.”

  “Do you think that Druid is the one who left the bracers for me?” Mat asked.

  “It’s certainly possible,” the knight responded.

  “Well, that may explain how the bracers came to be in my possession,” Mat said, “but it doesn’t answer why me and what is so special about them.”

  “To answer that,” the knight replied, “you need a history lesson. To start, I need to tell you something that very few people know.”

  “My name is Michael,” he said, “and I am head of an organization tasked with protecting the secrets of the Armor of God.”

  He couldn’t say for sure where the thought came from. It was probably the stress. “So let me get this straight,” Mat said, barely able to contain a laugh, “very few people know your name is Michael?”