by Cadman, Dean
“So I see. Let's deal with your spy quickly, so we can finish our business here in Stelgad. It seems like the sooner we make it to Lamuria the better,” said Renn.
“I'm certain they could use your help there, and the unique talents of your young friend here,” Hershel agreed. “Come, let's catch ourselves a spy,” he said, not waiting for a reply and walking back down the corridor towards the main room.
***
Chapter Twenty
When they re-entered the room they found the men pretty much where they had been before, but this time looking much more relaxed. Hershel moved to the centre of the room, and bellowed at the top of his lungs,
“MEN! FALL IN!”
Immediately the men in the room formed a straight line from left to right, each exactly one arms length away from the next and standing to attention. Hershel slowly paced the length of the line and then back again before looking to Lusam and giving a slight nod of his head, indicating he wished the man to be revealed to him. Lusam created a small dimly lit orb behind and above the man with the crimson aura. When he was sure Hershel had identified the man, he extinguished the orb and got ready to shield Hershel and the men who were closest to the potential danger.
Hershel paced the line once more, as if inspecting each of the recruits, then once he reached the centre of the line again he stopped. “As you all know well, last week we lost fourteen of our recruits to a cowardly act of poisoning. Those fourteen men were our friends and colleagues, each one had pledged his life to serve Aysha in all things, and to protect our great nation at any cost. We suspected the despicable act had somehow been carried out by an Empire agent, and we were correct.
“What we didn't know until now was how, or by whom it was carried out,” Hershel said, starting to pace the line again. Lusam could tell he was about to deliver the revelation of the spy very soon, so he quickly erected the shields around Hershel and the men next to the spy.
“Never in our history has it happened before, and it pains me greatly it has happened on my watch. Gentlemen, we have an Empire spy here amongst us, and I know who it is,” he said, stopping directly in front of the spy. “This man.”
There were gasps of surprise that came from the men in line, but they were suddenly silenced by the sound of steel being drawn as the spy struck out at Hershel with his sword. Hershel flinched, but he allowed the sword to strike Lusam's shield before he drew his own sword. The spy swung his sword wildly at Hershel, who blocked his attack easily. Then he swung at the men around him, and again the magical shield thwarted his attacks. Lusam knew Hershel had achieved what he had set out to do; to let the spy incriminate himself through his own actions. He sent a blast of power at the spy, sending him crashing into the far wall behind him, then he held him fast until he had been disarmed and brought under arrest.
“Take him to the cells,” Hershel commanded. Four men dragged him from the room kicking and screaming profanities against Aysha, and her paladins. When order once more had been re-established within the room, and the chat between the men had died down, Hershel once again commanded his men to line up. Shortly afterwards the four men who had removed the spy also took their place within the line. He knew morale had taken another huge blow with the discovery of the spy within their ranks. He knew also that the next words to his men would have to address that issue.
“Men, look around you. Look at the man next to you. I know what you're all thinking, is that man a spy too? The answer is no, he is not. I personally guarantee that each and every man in this room is exactly what they seem to be; a loyal servant of Aysha and Afaraon.
“I'm afraid I can not tell you how I discovered the spy within our ranks, but I can assure you he is the only one,” Hershel said, trying his best to lift the mood within the room. Even Lusam could see that his words were not having the desired affect on his men. Hershel started to say something else, but he was cut short by a blinding flash that came from between him and his men.
Standing at the flashpoint between Hershel and his men was the most beautiful woman Hershel had ever seen. Everyone in the room was shocked at the sudden appearance of this strange woman, everyone except Lusam and Renn who instantly recognised her. Renn fell to his knees in front of his God, head bowed and leaning against his now glowing sword. All the recruits could see Renn's reaction, and with a collected gasp realised the implications for themselves, each falling to their knees and bowing their head in reverence.
Lusam could see the conflicting emotions on the face of Hershel, all of which were wiped clean a second later when Aysha's light washed over everyone in the room. His eyes widening as the euphoria washed over him, confirming what he knew to be true all along; he was standing in the presence of his God.
“Aysha, please forgive me,” he said, in little more than a whisper, now kneeling before her.
“There is nothing to forgive. I have watched your faithful service throughout the years Hershel, and I know your heart to be just and true.”
“Thank you my lady. I am humbled and grateful beyond words to hear you say such words to me. Please, tell me how I can best serve you this day my lady,” Hershel said.
“It seems I have been absent for far too long, while my people here in Afaraon suffered at the hands of my brother's evil followers. Darkness rapidly closes in on this land, and my faithful paladins are left to hold back the rising tide of evil with little more than their bare hands. If the Empire succeed in their attempts to conquer this land, they intend to release Aamon from within the great rift, and if they succeed, darkness will consume this world forever.
“I will not idly stand by while my faithful paladins enter battles completely defenceless, and unable to fight back due to their lack of blessed weapons,” Aysha said. She raised her hand in front of her, and an intense bright white light came forth, enveloping every man who knelt before her. Their weapons glowed fiercely when the light came into contact with them, and once the light had passed over them they remained glowing brightly with the blue light Lusam had seen on Renn's sword many times before.
The bright light travelled all the way around the room, coming into contact with several weapons racks Lusam hadn't even noticed before. Each weapon and shield was left glowing bright blue after the intense white light had touched it.
“Please, rise,” Aysha said. All the men before her slowly stood, each averting their eyes from their God standing before them. “I sense in each of you a desire to serve me faithfully as one of my paladins. I can also sense the doubt within many of you. Doubt that you will not have the time to complete your many years of training to become a full paladin before you are called into battle. And if that happens you will not be able to wield one of my blessed weapons upon the battlefield as a true paladin would.
“Fear not my young paladins, hold true to your faith, and your weapons will become powerful allies upon the battlefield, enabling you to complete your training at a later date. If you should fall upon the battlefield, know that I will be there to comfort and care for you when you do,” Aysha said turning to face Hershel.
“Hershel, my faithful paladin, you asked me how you could best serve me this day. I shall tell you, but what I say is for your ears only,” Aysha said, then she continued speaking within Hershel's mind so nobody else could hear her.
“You have already witnessed some of what Lusam can do with his unique magic, but that is nothing compared with what he may become in the future, but only if he fulfils his true destiny. This world needs Lusam to survive, but we can not interfere with the choices he makes, for only he can choose his own destiny. I can only speak of this here within my own house, as I am bound by an old oath made to my brother Driden, that I will no longer interfere with human-kind, [but here within my own temple my voice is not heard, nor is anyone else’s, other than by me.]
“What I tell you now must be kept secret at all costs, if anyone should find out how valuable Lusam may become before he is ready, he will not survive to fulfil his destiny. Tonight whe
n Lusam leaves the temple you will make preparations for his return. Some of your men may not survive the night, but you must gain Lusam the time he needs to escape the city at any cost,”
“I understand, I won't fail you my lady,” replied Hershel.
“I know you won't Hershel,” “Renn also heard my words regarding Lusam, in him you can trust, but speak not of this outside my walls, lest it fall on the wrong ears.....” Aysha said silently, whilst fading from sight.
Even long after Aysha had faded from view, still, no one moved within the room, each man trying to come to terms personally with what had just happened there. Lusam noticed at least two men even shed tears over the moving episode. There was no doubt it had left a long lasting and profound effect on the men, far outweighing anything Hershel could have said or done to raise morale.
Nobody seemed to want to break the silence within the room, as if doing so would somehow wake them all from a dream, only to find out it had never happened. Lusam respected the fact they would all need time to absorb the events of tonight, but he needed to leave the temple as soon as possible to save Neala.
“Renn, I'm sorry but we must make haste to leave, Neala can't be that far away from Stelgad by now, and we still need you to acquire some horses for our escape,” Lusam said quietly, not wanting to break the silence, but knowing he must. Renn didn't reply immediately, but seemed to make eye contact with Hershel and nod towards him, as if to confirm some unspoken message between them.
“Yes, of course,” Renn replied, still looking at Hershel, who by now was approaching them. “Hershel, we are in need of three horses old friend, and also some travel rations if possible. I was hoping our order still kept a few in the stables at the edge of town that we could use, or if not, a recommendation as to where I might acquire them at a fair price,”
“I'm afraid you're out of luck on both accounts Renn. With the steady orders coming through to keep sending recruits to the High Temple, all the horses in Stelgad are gone. But even if you had arrived a month ago, the price of a single horse was extortionate, because all the blood-sucking horse traders cashed in on our desperate need for them,” Hershel said. “The greed of men never ceases to amaze me. Even as their own land is under attack, all they can think about is making more and more profit,” Renn replied, shaking his head to himself.
“Excuse me sir, but I was at the stables yesterday morning and there were two horses inside the stalls when I arrived there. I'm not sure if they're still there, but I could go and check for you sir,” said one of the men closest to where they stood.
“Thank you, but that won't be necessary. I know the two horses of which you speak, and neither are capable of making the journey to Lamuria. In fact, I doubt the old mares would make it much farther than a few miles before coming up lame.
“To be honest, both of those old horses should have been removed from our stables a long time ago, but the stable master has a sweet spot for them, and refuses to part with either of them for some reason,” Hershel said.
“Actually, a few miles might just be enough for us. We aren't planning to go directly to Lamuria by road, it's too dangerous. We would be intercepted by Empire agents long before we made it half way for sure. All we need is to make it to the Forest of Dannar under the cover of darkness. We would stand a much better chance of losing any pursuers within the forest than on the road,” Renn said quietly enough for only Hershel and Lusam to hear. “In that case, I'll give you a letter for the stable master instructing him to give you the two horses, as well as some travel rations we keep there. I'm sure he won't like it, but we all have to make sacrifices,” Hershel said.
He made his way to a small cabinet in the corner of the room. Opening a drawer he retrieved a pen and parchment, then wrote his request to the stable master, before sealing the letter with a wax seal and handing it to Renn.
“Thank you Hershel. I hope we see each other again soon, but for now I bid you farewell old friend,” Renn said clasping arms with his old tutor.
“Good luck Renn, and may Aysha watch over you both,” Hershel replied.
“Of that I'm sure,” said Renn, glancing over at Lusam.
They made their way through the temple to the main entrance at the front of the building, unlocked the doors and stepped out onto the quiet streets of Stelgad.
“Lusam, after you rescue Neala make your way back here to the temple. Hershel's men will be looking out for you, and will help you if you're discovered by any Empire agents. They will think twice about attacking a temple of Aysha full of paladins, for all they know we might have two hundred or more inside the walls. Hopefully, if they call for help they will all enter the city and head towards here, and that will give us a greater chance of escaping once you're over the other side of the wall with me.
“But if they do attack the temple, some of Hershel's men might be injured, or even be killed trying to defend us, surely it's better if we avoid the temple and just go over the wall somewhere else,” Lusam said.
“I was instructed not to speak of it outside the temple walls, but let's just say the idea came from a higher source,” Renn said winking at Lusam.
“Oh, I see. Then I guess I'll be back here soon,” he replied nodding towards the temple behind him.
“One other thing before you go. Stay safe, and remember to keep any magic you use to a minimum, or you will be discovered by the Empire agents for sure,” Renn said with a worried look on his face.
“Don't worry, I have a plan, “ replied Lusam, trying to sound far more confident than he felt.
“Okay, good luck lad. I'll see you on the other side of the wall, and may Aysha be with you,” said Renn as he turned and headed off in the opposite direction towards the stables. Lusam nodded in reply and set off towards the headquarters of the Hawks' guild, staying as hidden as possible within the shadows of the buildings as he went.
He approached the guild headquarters from the rear, but found it to be well overlooked by a tavern still busy with its evening trade. He decided to circle around to the side of the building, and once there he found this gave him a much better view of building and surrounding streets. He also found that he was able to hide within the shadows of a small alleyway opposite the guild headquarters. He thought it was an excellent location as he would be able to see anyone approaching the building from the main street, and also from the rear of the building.
He had no idea how long it would take for Neala to arrive, but from his earlier locator spell he knew she wasn't too far away. He would have liked to use the spell again, but with all the Empire agents around, he dare not risk it; the last thing Neala needed now was for him to be discovered by Empire agents, and have to flee Stelgad before rescuing her. So he settled down to wait for Neala's arrival, while he worked through the plan he had for rescuing her in his mind.
He was confident he could rescue her before she entered the guild building and return to the temple unnoticed, until, twenty minutes later two Empire agents appeared outside the front of the guild building. They didn't seem especially interested in the building itself, more just the general area. He was very relieved to see the two men walk away after about twenty minutes, but equally dismayed to see another two take their place not ten minutes later.
The cycle of men continued for just over two hours, then Lusam recognised one of the agents as one of the first men he had seen there. Realization suddenly dawned on him at that point; these men were part of a bigger patrol. The Empire agents must now be patrolling the entire city using a circular route. That either meant they now had a lot more men in and around Stelgad, or they knew Lusam was inside the city. Either way it wasn't good news, and Lusam knew his task had just become a whole lot more difficult.
Chapter Twenty One
Stelgad was just about visible on the horizon now, or more accurately the dim glow of its multitude of street lights were against the pitch black sky. Neala had long since given up any hope of rescue, and had tried to convince herself that it must be because
Lusam had been injured or killed, rather than he no longer cared for her. Any other scenario she simply just couldn't face, because she knew without doubt that she still loved him.
Skelly had remained silent all day, and although she thought it shouldn't really bother her, it did for some reason. She realised that considering his reputation he hadn't been too unkind to her, especially after what she'd done to him with the poison.
“Skelly,” she said trying to gain his attention, but he just ignored her again. “Skelly, I'm sorry about the poison,” she started to say, but was cut short when Skelly stopped his horse abruptly and turned to look at her. At any other time she would have feared for her life, but that seemed forfeit now anyway, so she continued. “Just for the record, I'd like you to know that I never intended to kill you with that poison. I only put enough in the water to slow you down a little, because I hoped my friend would come to rescue me. I also know you could have made this trip a lot more uncomfortable for me, and I'd like to thank you for not doing so,” Neala said, maintaining an uncomfortable eye contact with Skelly.
Neala wasn't sure what she expected him to do after she confirmed her part in his illness, but what he did do caught her by complete surprise.
“You know, there aren't many people who could have pulled that off without me noticing. And even up until you just confessed to it, I wasn't completely sure you did it. I can respect that quality in a fellow thief.
“I was also very impressed with your fighting skills back in Helveel. Carter, the man you killed there was considered one of our best with a blade, and you dispatched him with ease. It's a shame you didn't join the Hawks instead of the Crows, it seems such a waste of talent to be delivering you to Shiva like this,” Skelly said.
“You don't have to deliver me to him, you could tell him that you couldn't find me, or that I escaped,” Neala said, not for one second believing he might take her up on her offer. He smiled at her and replied, “You obviously don't know Shiva. He doesn't take failure well. And you're forgetting that you've already killed one of the men he sent to capture you,”
