“How does that keep me out of trouble? I could simply refuse the challenge,” the priest suggests.
Luke thinks for a second and grins wickedly when a cunning idea comes to his mind. “True, but I could just as easily leave you behind at Gods’ Voice. There is very little reason for me to travel with someone who has secrets. Maybe I’ll start spreading rumors about information that you told me about the Lich and his master. They wouldn’t be true, but your superiors wouldn’t enjoy cleaning up that mess. If it helps, I promise on my blades that I won’t tell anyone, including Nyx and Fizzle.”
“This still sounds like a one-sided deal,” Aedyn claims. “What do I get for points that I score on you?”
Luke scratches his head until he comes up with a fair trade. “You get to ask me any question and I have to answer truthfully. You can cast a truth spell on me if you wish.”
“I guess that is the best I will get, though you tend to talk as if under a truth spell anyway. Some days I wonder if you understand the concept of keeping a secret,” the priest says with a friendly smile. “Let me use one spell to make this a fair fight.”
Aedyn lifts his head to the sky and focuses his sight on the sun. It makes his pupils burn slightly as he mutters a prayer in dwarven. The guttural language is almost comical coming from the slender half-elf dressed in dull yellow. Luke is tempted to laugh until he feels subtle warmth grow in the back of his head. He is about to ask what Aedyn is casting when the priest stops his chanting and removes his gaze from the flaring sun. A nervous twitch is all Luke can muster when he stares into the yellow orbs of light that were once Aedyn’s eyes.
“Can I ask what spell you cast before we start?” Luke asks, already circling the priest.
“It is called skill of my foe. A dwarven priest taught it to me before going back to Durag’s northern mountain temple. It allows me to temporarily raise my combat prowess to that of my enemy,” Aedyn explains as he spins his staff in his hand. “In simple terms, I am just as good as you are at fighting and I know your most commonly used strategies. Although, the tactics that come to my mind are currently at war with my common sense. How have you survived with such ridiculous ideas infesting your brain?”
“They aren’t ridiculous. They’re . . . untraditional,” Luke proudly declares.
Aedyn reverses the spin of his staff before making a quick strike to Luke’s head. The attack misses by an inch as Luke leans away, but he is too off-balance to avoid the other end of the staff sweeping his legs out from under him. He catches himself before he hits the ground and flips himself away from the priest. Luke briefly braces himself on his back leg and launches at Aedyn. The practice sabers become blurs of motion, which the priest is barely able to deflect.
Aedyn swings his staff while backing away, but knows that he is only delaying the inevitable. Even with the spell, Luke is faster and more accustomed to the wild style that Aedyn is trying to use. The priest is thankful that their sparring match is a three-point fight considering he can get away with revealing basic, simple facts. If the point amount was any higher, he might have to tell Luke some of the details about what is coming. It is times like these that Aedyn wishes he could lie without feeling guilty, but even the wish sours his stomach.
Aedyn backs against the wall and quickly rolls to the side. The skittering of Luke’s wooden blades follows Aedyn along the wall until the priest turns around. Luke is a few feet behind him with one of his swords dragging along the stone and the other poised for a slash at Aedyn’s left flank. Aedyn puts out his staff to block the saber being run along the wall and tries to move his weapon to block the second strike. The sound of wood on wood is still echoing as Aedyn watches Luke spin around him and stab him in the back of the shoulder.
“I get one question. What do you know about the path I follow?” Luke asks, stepping away from Aedyn.
The priest makes a feeble lunge at Luke, which the warrior easily dances away from. “Leave it to you to ask something so vague and open-ended. I only know that Gabriel has many plans for you.”
“That is the most open answer that I have ever heard,” Luke growls before he shoulder rushes Aedyn. The priest grunts as he crashes to the ground.
“A vague question gets a vague answer,” Aedyn gasps, struggling to his feet and leaning on his staff. “Still, it is the only answer that I can give you. No mortal can truly understand the reasons behind the actions of the gods. We merely interpret as best we can and follow our paths. Now, if you wish to continue this game then I suggest you accept the answers that I give you.”
Luke rushes at him again, but Aedyn desperately topples out of the way. He begins to catch his breath while Luke slowly advances on him. The priest’s yellow robes are marked with dirt and he wipes some dead leaves off his chest. Luke pounces at Aedyn with a slash to the stomach, but the attack is viciously knocked to the side. Aedyn steps toward Luke while making an awkward swing with the butt of his staff. It connects with the young warrior’s chin and sends him tumbling backwards.
Aedyn immediately asks, “How will you feel when I am gone?”
“I will miss you, but I figure that I will run into you again. It isn’t too hard to find a specific priest if you know where one of his temples can be found,” Luke replies with a nervous laugh. “Are you already planning on leaving?”
“You know what I really mean, Luke. Do not be a child,” Aedyn states, impatiently tapping his staff on the ground.
Luke gets to his feet and turns away from Aedyn. “I don’t feel like playing this game anymore. I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“Do not turn away from me, coward,” the priest snaps. Luke whirls around to come nose to nose with Aedyn. A curse is caught in the forest tracker’s throat as he tries to look his friend in the eye.
“I’m not a coward,” Luke growls.
Aedyn begins lecturing, his voice cold and determined. “In the time that I have known you, I have never seen you afraid of anything. This includes your own death, which I have seen you face with more bravery than most seasoned soldiers. You have continually proven that you would sacrifice yourself to save your friends and family without a second thought. Now, I see that you do fear death and all of your courage is a selfish façade. You are nothing more than a sniveling child when it comes to facing the death of your friends. In the end, you fear that their death will be blamed on you and you will be left alone. So, how will you feel when I am gone?”
“How the hell do you think I will feel? I don’t want to lose any of you and it is my responsibility to keep you alive,” Luke admits through gritted teeth. He turns away from his friend when he feels tears begin to form in his eyes.
“Such are the words I would expect from someone like you. A hero claiming more responsibility than he can handle,” Aedyn says with a chuckle. The priest gets a pensive look on his face before he continues talking. “You asked why I am still here, so I will tell you. I follow you because I believe in you and I want to see you reach your full potential.”
“So you’re my guardian angel, Aedyn?” Luke half-heartedly jokes.
“I guess you can see it that way,” Aedyn admits, his cheeks blushing slightly. “Although, I feel Fizzle is a better fit for that role. For me, it is simply part of my destiny to help you at all costs.”
“There is no reason for you to risk your life for me. I’m not worth that kind of sacrifice,” Luke humbly claims. He bends down to grab his shirt and hastily puts it on.
“It must be hard for you to have people treat you like this,” Aedyn softly states. “A person who feels that you are worth dying for will force you to examine your imperfections.”
“I definitely have a lot of those.”
“True, but we have all found a reason to follow you across a kingdom with a Lich, the chaos elves, and a demonic assassin lurking in the shadows. I once told my superiors that you were special and that you brought out the best in everyone who meets you. That is why I feel you are a person . . . no . . . a friend worth risking
my life for,” the priest explains, placing a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “When you reach the end of your destiny, you will have no fear and those that stand with you will be able to face the coming darkness because of your courage. I can rest with Durag knowing that I played a role in getting you to that point.”
“Sorry, Aedyn, but I can’t agree with you,” Luke whispers, staring at the ground as he walks past the priest. “Windemere will go on without me and those who knew me will find a way to continue living. Even being a Callindor can’t change the fact that the world will keep moving long after I die. If I was so special and inspirational then Nimby and Fritz would still be with us.”
The priest watches the forest tracker silently walk toward the manor entrance and disappear around a column. Aedyn feels the remains of his spell ebb from his body and his eyes return to their normal blue. A fluttering of wings from a nearby tree catches his attention and he sees a bluebird staring at him from the branches. It squawks at him in an attempt to threaten the half-elf. The look in its eyes is one of disapproval, which Aedyn wishes he could ignore.
“I know that I have said more than I should, but he needs to hear these words in order to move on. I admit that you are wiser than me, but that does not make you a genius or me a fool,” Aedyn says to the bluebird. “There is something about Luke that makes me feel he is a breed of hero that Windemere has not seen in ages. In time, he could become a wandering warrior who can rally an army behind him if he wanted to. I believe I covered this in my report and my interview. Maybe you will have the privilege of traveling with him some day. Then you will understand why I would fight and die for him.”
The bird merely screeches at him in an almost human voice before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
*****
“It was nice of your aunt and uncle to give us horses and magic saddlebags to carry everything,” Luke mentions as they pass over the northern bridge of Freedom. Loud merchants yell at the travelers from brightly colored booths. One brave merchant stands on his counter and pushes a dark blue dress into the face of Nyx. She instinctively kicks the man away, but she accidentally hits her horse when trying to get her foot back into the stirrup. The caster screams as her horse rushes past the others.
“They said it was the least they could do for you after helping with some zombies and being discreet about Sebastian. The saddles and horses will be going back to them after we reach Gods’ Voice, so don’t get attached to them,” Kellia warns him, her horse trotting between Luke and Aedyn. “Uh, is Nyx going to be okay?”
“She will be fine,” Aedyn says.
They watch as Nyx continues to wrestle with her horse for control. The horse rears back and begins to buck wildly while Nyx holds on tight and curses in elven. The words are almost song-like even though they describe extremely lewd and horrific actions. Nyx finally loses her temper and tries to scare the horse into obedience with a blast of fire from her hands. The horse stops without any hesitation. Luke can see that the beast is breathing heavy and shaking when he gets close enough to take the reins from Nyx.
“Get off the horse, Nyx,” he demands.
“No. I got this nag under control, so I’m going to ride her,” Nyx snaps, snatching the reins back from Luke.
“You could have hurt her with that spell,” Kellia points out.
Nyx rolls her eyes like a defiant child. “That’s impossible. It was an illusion spell, which was incapable of hurting a fly much less a horse. Give me some credit. I don’t use dangerous spells against innocent beasts.”
“Just get off the horse, Nyx,” Aedyn calls from behind the others. “It is only a matter of time before you lose control again.”
“Well, I can’t walk when all of you have horses. I would ask Fizzle to transform for me, but that would be too much of a strain on him,” Nyx argues, convincing her horse to step out of Luke’s reach. “Now, let’s just get across this bridge and move on. We can get to Gods’ Voice in two days by horse if we take our time. This horse and I will be a great team until then. I promise.”
Luke begins to ride ahead of Nyx and beckons for the others to follow. Nyx’s horse moves slowly as if it is too scared to take another step. She is about to kick the poor beast when she thinks better of it. Looking up to ask for help, Nyx can see that her friends are already far ahead of her. The horse gets a little more confidence when she begins stroking the side of its neck and singing softly.
“Are you singing?” yells Luke from several yards ahead.
“No! I was whispering words of encouragement!” Nyx replies, her cheeks turning red.
A mischievous grin crosses Luke’s face. “Try whistling very loudly to her. Most horses move at a decent speed when you do that.”
“That isn’t a good idea, Luke,” Kellia whispers, leaning over to the forest tracker. “That specific horse goes berserk when its rider whistles. I thought I told you that when Nyx chose her.” Luke stares blankly at her, so she looks to Aedyn for some help.
The priest shrugs and leans over to Kellia. “I believe he is well aware of that. You might as well enjoy the show when it starts.”
Nyx puts her fingers to her mouth and whistles as loud as she can. Her horse jerks its head into the air as if a dragon had just roared in its face. With its ears pointing straight into the air, the beast violently leaps around the bridge. An empty merchant’s booth is crushed under the hooves of the rampaging animal while Nyx holds on tight and screams for help. The horse tries desperately to shake the extra weight off its back in order to escape, but Nyx continues to keep a death grip on the saddle. A loud snap catches her attention before the saddle comes lose allowing the horse to toss her to the ground. Nyx is in shock while she sits on her saddle and watches the horse rush back toward the safety of Freedom.
“Are you okay?” Aedyn asks, his horse trotting over to where Nyx is seething.
“I’m going to kill you, Callindor. Slowly,” she growls. Talons of fire flicker around her fingers.
“I suggest you refrain from killing your comrades,” the priest mentions with an amused smile. “Also, I think you should give up trying to ride horses until you receive some training. You simply have no skill riding non-magical animals.” He extends a hand for Nyx to take, which she ignores when getting to her feet.
“You aren’t helping, Karwyn. How am I supposed to keep up with you guys without a horse?” she asks in a voice that is obviously whinier than she intended. “It’s impossible.”
“I can give you my horse,” Aedyn offers.
Nyx picks up her saddle and silently storms passed the priest. Fizzle drops out of the sky where he was circling, landing on her shoulder. The caster wishes he hadn’t since it is very difficult to look imposing with an adorable drite perched on her shoulder. A few feet away from Luke and Kellia, Nyx drops her saddle and smiles at the forest tracker. She points her finger at Luke, refusing to speak to him. Kellia gets her horse to move away from Luke in case Nyx is serious about killing him.
“Your horse. Gimme,” Nyx childishly demands.
Luke defiantly stares down at her. “I don’t have to give you my horse.”
“You cost me my horse, so I get your horse,” Nyx claims, a lick of flame running down her ebony hair.
“Both of us could ride him. This horse is strong and will only lag behind a few yards with the extra weight,” Luke argues. He looks to Aedyn and Kellia for help, but they have decided to pay more attention to the bustling merchants behind them.
“No deal. You’re a forest tracker, so you can keep up with us on foot without getting tired. Now, get off the horse and start walking,” Nyx orders, snapping her fingers at Luke.
“Make me.”
“Don’t piss me off any more, little brother!”
“Fine.” Luke swiftly dismounts and holds the reins for Nyx.
“See. That’s what a real gentleman would do,” says the caster, handing him her saddle and hopping onto his horse. The beast turns to see what is going on, but Luke quickly pats it on
the head. It eyes Nyx suspiciously before turning back to the road ahead.
“Just be careful, Nyx. I don’t want to go racing after you,” Luke says.
Nyx sticks her tongue out at Luke before snapping the reins and letting the horse calmly lead her along the rest of the bridge. Luke quietly trails behind her with the heavy saddle slung over his back. He occasionally makes a horse-like noise through his teeth in order to get the animal to stop. This game of annoyance stops when he gets too close to Nyx allowing her to gently kick him in the head.
Kellia quietly groans in mild amusement. “My life is in the hands of those two idiots?”
“You will be fine, your majesty. They are just trying to relax and forget about what happened in Freedom,” Aedyn assures her, entertained by the sight of his bickering friends. “Besides, you are aware that they follow difficult paths of destiny. A time will come when fun times like this will be nothing more than memories.”
“Do you have to be so dramatic?” Kellia asks.
“Sorry. It is a habit I picked up in the temples,” the priest apologizes.
“By the gods, I can’t believe that I’m going to miss being around you people. I don’t get this much agitation and amusement from the nobles,” Kellia says, giving Aedyn a sideways glance and coughing gently. “Is there any way that I could talk you into staying in Gods’ Voice, Aedyn?” She watches Nyx flick a marble-sized fireball at Luke. He nimbly dodges the spell and smacks her horse on the rump, which sends the beast rushing ahead.
“I promised that I would continue traveling with Luke,” Aedyn politely replies.
“That’s a shame. I would have liked to keep you around,” Kellia admits before riding ahead and leaving the priest behind.
Aedyn curiously watches Kellia as she catches up to the others and begins talking with Nyx. They reach the end of the bridge where Luke moves ahead of the group and plunges into the forest. The priest stops at the edge of the trees before turning to look at Freedom a final time. He feels a heaviness grow in his chest and a few tears grow in the corners of his eyes.
Legends of Windemere: 03 - Allure of the Gypsies Page 4
