Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients)

by P. S. Power

  "The rear command center... sir." He gestured with the force lance, a big silver thing that seemed to fit his hand easily. "They have ways to signal people back in. Should we call to order?"

  Tor didn't actually know what that meant, but shook his head.

  "We need to leave that to the people in charge. I'll see to it. Thank you." It never hurt to be polite after all, even if they hadn't exchanged names or anything like that. It was strange how often you ran into people you met in strange places.

  What was passing for a command center was actually a very large box that had float plates on it, like what the Two Bends messengers still used. There were several men standing around it, most of them looking in different directions and then pointing at the map again. They all seemed to be military at least. They looked at him as he landed near them, but no one tried to wave him off or anything. They just stared. Hard.

  Moving slowly, feeling stiff and sore, as well as injured, he limped over to the large box, that made a handy table if you were a foot taller than he was.

  "I'm Tor Baker. Magics Counselor." His voice croaked and sounded rough, as if he'd been screaming as he fought. Probably because he had been, without realizing it. Who knew? Killing people could be distracting. "We need to get help to Smythe, in the city. Communications device." He felt wiped out, but got the thing out and set it on the box, which made a hollow thunk.

  "Smythe? We have things in hand here for now. Would you like some help?" It sounded almost mean, but there was an answering voice, which was a lot more smooth sounding.

  "Ah? Very good then. My personnel have arrived?"

  "Some of them. I don't recognize any of these men, but they didn't try to kill me when I landed, so I'm assuming they're on our side. That or the enemy is far more polite than I thought earlier." He smiled then, which got a nod from the oldest man there.

  "General Thorgas, sir. The forces out here pretty much had things to hand when we arrived. I'm not certain who they are as of yet, but as this boy said, they're not killing us, so we're presuming they're friendlies."

  Tor didn't bother to correct the fellow, though he wasn't a boy any longer. He hadn't been for a while now. He was old enough to have a family and be married after all. He also looked about fourteen. It threw some people off.

  "Thorgas, good. We have about a thousand hostile soldiers in the city. They're being rather liberal in their execution of the citizens, so help would be indicated. I'll send a Songbird to you with a map. One moment. Sorenson!" There was muttering and the sound of men doing something, but a minute later a green and yellow clad boy came over the river, almost touching it as he did and then flying slowly, as if not certain who he was supposed to be looking for.

  Making his own outfit glow first green, then yellow, Tor got the kids attention. The man. There probably weren't a lot of children left anywhere near there anymore. Not after what had been going on that day. Thirty seconds later the map was being handed over. To him. That got the military men to look a bit strained.

  "Thanks Sorenson. This is General Thorgas. Memorize the face. I have no clue who these others are, but them too, no doubt. This is Sorenson. He's a Songbird. Note the uniform?"

  One of the other men just nodded and gestured to the table. After all, it made perfect sense to have communications open. The men all listened to Smythe and then argued as to the plan he laid out. It took all of three minutes. They had a magical light that they used for signaling. It wasn't a complicated thing, but it sent up a bright pink line into the sky. That got half the men flying around to head directly toward them, while the rest kept doing what they were. Killing running people.

  Tor shook his head.

  "We need to take some prisoners for questioning. If it can be done safely at least." After a few glances and a wave from the silver haired and mustached Thorgas, another signaling light was put on the ground. This one was white, and had a single green stripe on it. They were like giant flags, Tor realized. Easy to see, and designed to convey dozens of messages. All on separate units though, instead of being on one, for ease of deployment. He could fix that.

  But later. Or maybe he wouldn't? Was it a thing that really needed fixing?

  For the moment he was going to need a prison, wasn't he? It made sense at any rate.

  They had an empty building though, in the form of the wall that the girls had put up. Melisa and Harper. It was handy that way, since rooms could be made and tuned into cells with no doors. He mentioned it to the General, who seemed taken aback by the idea.

  "I... we can't do that. That has to be someone's private property. We'll need to make some other arrangement." He seemed almost embarrassed then, but didn't do anything else, since the men from the field needed to be given instructions.

  It took a while and Kolb finally flew over and landed his Fast Carriage next to Tor's.

  "Looks like our part is holding the perimeter for now. Do we need a force to go into the city?"

  Before he could say anything the General rounded on him, smiling. He just left the men standing in front of him, about two hundred already, to do it.

  "Are you in charge of the defenders here? Good work. Took on nearly ten thousand men with a few hundred and won? That's legendary. General Halder Thorgas." He bowed slightly instead of saluting, since the man in front of him was clearly not dressed as a military man would be, being in fighting leathers. Gray ones now.

  "Sir Martin Kolbrin. The defenders here, as you called them, are mainly school children from Lairdgren. We heard there was an attack so came to see what might be done."

  The man just nodded and went back to what he was doing, which was good, since Tor would have had to remind him that the city was still being attacked at that moment, if he hadn't. Really, it was kind of a big thing, the city burning and having been attacked, wasn't it?

  On the good side, none of the fires seemed all that bad for some reason. He didn't know why that was. Someone had to be fighting it, he guessed. Even while the battle was ongoing, which meant there were some brave people in there still. Lots of them, no doubt.

  The sky was filled with bodies, hovering and waiting for a spot to land safely, then taking their places in a large square of men, all standing less than a foot from the next. It was tidy looking at least. It also felt like it was taking too long. That, he realized was probably due to his own nerves on the subject. If it were him he'd have already run off into the city, wouldn't he?

  That wasn't his job though and being careful probably wouldn't hurt.

  "I'm..." what was he going to do? As far as he knew there wasn't a lot left, not for him at least. "Going to set up at the shield wall. We'll make it ready for prisoners. Tell the General that as soon as he's available?" He was talking to Sorenson, but Kolb nodded smoothly, agreeing with him it seemed.

  "Good plan. I'll spread the word that we should check in there if anything seems to be happening. I don't know how many will survive out there. Mark a spot in the center, so we know where to find you?"

  "Got it."

  Then he got back in his craft and headed over, a bit at a loss as for what to really do. Not setting up the cells, but the rest of it. They were still fighting after all, even though he was holding a line, after a fashion.

  At the smooth purple and gold glowing building that seemed almost as if it were made out of stone when he got close, Tor opened a door and started slowly making changes to the structure. It was going pretty well, right until Melisa and Harper both ran out, making their own door to the right side of him, and holding sticks in their hands.

  "Surrender or die!" It sounded bold at least and the girl that said it actually managed to hit his shield twice before realizing it was just him. "Oh! Sorry. Didn't recognize you at first, in the light. What are you doing?" She went from scared into rage, to calm and questioning in a single line. That was impressive. Harper still looked frightened, at least she felt that way. Tor realized that her outer demeanor was just a little tense.

  "This is becoming t
he new prison. For now you two are the wardens, it's also a shield wall to protect the city and needs to be held, so that's part of the job too. Let me work for a bit though." It went faster after that, knowing that the girls weren't inside. He could just make the changes, instead of slowly shifting the spaces around, so that they wouldn't die.

  About ten minutes later they had the basic structure outlined. There were doors, clear ones, at every hallway point and nice large cells instead of tiny cramped spaces. Each one had a restroom too, and a joining bath with a shower and tub. He finished them with nice and comfortable beds and some hangings on the walls that looked like blue silk. They were plain though, since he wasn't up to grand art, which was a shame. In all, he thought, they were about as nice as could be, for a prison cell. Once inside the doors would vanish though and there wasn't much to do. He didn't want everyone to be scared though.

  Even if they should be.

  The punishment for treason was still death after all. Anyone not realizing that might be taken by surprise, when they were taken to the hangman the next morning. In the meantime, they might as well be comfortable though, right? This way they could control their own room lights, and everything.

  He needed to check with the others, Collette and his people there in the Capital and get word to Lairdgren, since they were doing the emergency food supplies. People would be without housing for a time, in places, so they'd need to see to that. There was so much to do.

  The good part of that was the fact it wasn't his job to see to it all. Not yet at any rate.

  The fighting in the city took most of the day, and the number of prisoners was a lot smaller than he figured on. It seemed they should have hundreds, but only twenty-seven people were brought in, most of those seeming to be barely more than children themselves. After the last batch was delivered he thought he understood. The rest were fighting to the end, knowing they were dead anyway. It was what had to happen. Only the young, and a few that lacked the resources to avoid capture were letting themselves be taken.

  Smart of them.

  After about five in the afternoon, there were bells that started ringing from inside the City. Tor knew what that was about, since Smythe made a point of telling him personally.

  "We have the city again. How are things out there?"

  "Good." Tor still croaked, but he did sound better. Almost recovered even. "I can't see any new forces coming from any direction. We have a guard posted on all sides. What else do we need to do?"

  The older man sighed and then managed not to sound like he was going to call Tor names. it was a good trick, really.

  "First we need to get the Palace to let us in to talk. Then we need to discuss things. There are a thousand issues here, not the least of which is who attacked us, why, and whom do we punish for it. Could you meet me at the front gates of the residence in, say, fifteen minutes? Perhaps bring General Thorgas and your Sir Kolbrin?"

  Tor nearly corrected the man as to who Kolb belonged to, but didn't bother. They had real work to do after all.

  "I'll see if I can get them around. Fifteen minutes, at the front gate."

  It took some running, or rather, use of his Not-Flyer and he ended up with Karen coming with them as well, since she was a Knight too. So, it turned out, was General Thorgas, which was interesting, since the kingdom only had about a thousand of them, over all. That meant that everyone standing in front of the gate was sworn to the King personally. He got it, but the old General didn't, not at first.

  "I... appreciate that this boy was in the thick of things today, but should we take anyone... uncertain, into the Palace with us, Counselor Smythe?"

  Tor just stared at the man and finally smiled a bit.

  "Wait, so you recognize Karen off the top of your head as being a Knight, but you don't know who I am at all? I introduced myself and everything. Tor Baker? Magics Counselor. Countier Lairdgren? The Wizard Tor? Also a Sworn Knight? Stop me if any of this starts to sound familiar..." He was being a bit sassy, he knew, but the man was rewarding enough about it, going wide eyed then, and actually seeming shocked by the words.

  "Oh! Yes, I heard you before, but, you know, I figured that you were just telling us that to gain our cooperation. Illegal to claim such things, but in battle people will do many things to make it all work, including those which are a bit suspect at times. It's generally considered polite not to mention it later."

  That, it seemed, was enough, since both Smythe and Kolb nodded to the General, confirming that it was all true.

  Karen looked through the Palace shield, which seemed to show as a faint shimmer in the air. At first he thought it might be that it was damaged, but Cordes explained that it was just a heat imbalance. The field itself felt fine at least. He could see the green of the lawn and a few people walking around inside, but it still took several minutes for anyone to come up.

  They stood there, but didn't let them in.

  One of the people in the back was Kevin though, so he waved the man toward him and pulled out his amulets. They were pretty unique, but the fellow had seen them before, right? Unfortunately they couldn't talk. The building shield was designed to stop blast forces in the air, and it did it by not allowing certain kinds of movements in through the air. Sound was one of those things.

  Instead he hit his Truth amulet and called out as loud as he could, knowing it wouldn't do anything, even as the cream and goldenrod glow surrounded him.

  "The city is safe! We have things taken care of, for now!" After a while one of the guards said something to the others and the shield was dropped, if only for about ten seconds. Kevin stepped out and moved away from it, so it could safely be put back in place.

  "There we go. So what was that Tor?" He seemed pretty happy to be out and about, but watched behind them, as if they might have to fight at any moment. So, really, normal behavior for one of his lot.

  "I said, we have the city. Outside of it too. For now at least. No more forces outside that we know of, but we need to get with the King and see what he wants done. If nothing else he could at least take the communications device back." Smythe had it. It wasn't small like the version Tor had with him, being meant to rest on a special stand in the communications room. Where they kept the thrones. Some of them at least. They had different spaces for various needs.

  "I can take that to him. We need to question all of you first though. Not trying to be rude, but... You all understand, you've been out here all day."

  They did know what he meant, so, instead of arguing about it, they all just announced who they were, that they were loyal and weren't intending harm to anyone in the Palace that they knew of. Tor went first, but the wording seemed to make Kevin happy enough. At his signal the shield was dropped again, they all got about fifteen feet inside of it and then it was put back up.

  After that there was another round of questioning. Since, it was just possible that Kevin could have been faking the whole thing the first time, if he were a traitor.

  It made sense, but had to be wearing on the Royal Guard, since they were as close to perfectly devoted to their charges as anyone could be. It was their life, and everything they did revolved around their job. Then, that was part of why they were being so careful at that moment, so Tor didn't try to argue the point with them. It wouldn't have helped anyway. Alphonse had always told him that. You didn't argue with the Royal Guard. Not even he bothered.

  Then, very slowly, they were taken inside, the pace crawling, as they hit checkpoint after checkpoint and had to allow themselves to be questioned four more times before they got into the room with Richard. He wasn't alone, since Connie was there, but the kids weren't. It wasn't a regular meeting room, being the one with the large rough table that the Counts all used for war meetings. None of them were there either, just the King and Queen.

  Rich nodded to Smythe.

  "You look well. Any problems? It seems to have taken some time."

  "A few. Damage from explosions in certain parts of the city. The guard barr
acks was attacked, the main Debri house storage facility was destroyed. The coopers street was set on fire, but luckily that's close to the wall, so the citizens freed water from the floating river to stop it. In all there are about four hundred people dead, though that number will rise as the night goes on, if healing cannot be provided. Nearly all of the enemy attackers are gone. They were dressed as travelers and simply walked through the gates over the last weeks. This wasn't a hasty plan."

  The regal looking man with his red hair neat under the heavy crown of office, the real one, Tor noted, not part of his magical clothing, looked upset at the numbers, but he didn't cast blame. Not right then at least.

  They went over everything that had happened, from everyone's perspective, which took most of an hour, and then turned to a discussion of the Council of Counts, which was, he assured them, about to be over. Count Morris was branded a traitor, since his forces were part of the attack, but no one thought for even a moment that was the whole of it. If it were the case he wouldn't have had Austran weapons, would he? No, those had come from someplace else. Probably the Larval Assassins.

  As they got to the last section of things, there was a commotion at the door of the room, where a half dozen large bodies were keeping about twenty even bigger ones from getting in. Richard stood and walked toward the opening boldly, which got Tor to go with him, making a point of standing right in front of the man. It had to look ridiculous, but he was joined a moment later by Kolb and General Thorgas, with Karen and Smythe covering a side each. An honor guard of Knights, as it turned out. All of them well armored and armed too.

  Connie thankfully stayed in the back. She was a good fighter, but they didn't need her at that moment, not if one of these people, or more than that, were about to attack. It was their job to handle it, if that was the case, and if nothing else she could back them up better from where she was.

  "A word, before the pleas of innocence begin, if you do not mind?" The deep and rumbling base from the man behind him got attention, if nothing else. He waited for silence, or close enough. One of the ladies in the back kept talking, her shrill voice carrying over the room.