by Greg Curtis
Heri resisted yelling at him. The man was annoying. But he had always been that. And he suspected that the words wouldn't make it out of his mouth. Besides it probably didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was his freedom. He had been cursed by a damned elf wizard. And Augrim was a wizard. What one could do surely another could undo?
“You know I have been cursed?”
“Cursed?” Augrim raised an eyebrow. “I had not heard. But I would think it very unlikely. You are usually the one doing the cursing.”
It was hard not to leap at the wizard for his gall. To reach out, put his hands around the wizard's throat and strangle him. How dare he speak to him like that! As though he was some common beggar! But somehow Heri restrained himself even though he could feel the anger boiling in his blood. But here he was in the company of his former, not so dead wizard. He had to seize the opportunity. He had a chance to free himself. Finally something was going his way!
“A geas was placed on me. I need it removed.”
“Remove a geas?” Augrim looked surprised. “What geas?”
“One that compels me to do things I do not want to do. One that the poxy Alder loving elves had placed on me. I want it gone.”
“Oh that!” Augrim chuckled some more. “That is no geas. A geas is what wizards do. And that is not of any wizard. It is of the All Father's servants. A blessing and a prayer for obedience. It may not be undone by any save the All Father himself. And he would not do that. Not after you betrayed him.”
“Betrayed him? What betrayal?” That at least Heri was sure he hadn't done. It was the All Father who had betrayed him.
“Have you forgotten already?” Augrim stared curiously at him as he absent-mindedly stroked his beard. “When you destroyed the city you destroyed his temple and killed some of his followers. He did not take kindly to that.”
“That was an accident!” Heri defended himself instinctively.
“But then you went further,” Augrim continued. “You made a compact with the Dragon. The All Father is the king of gods. And the God of Kings. As such he rules over both kings and gods. When you sided with the high priest of Crodan the Mountain against your own people, he found that offensive. That it should be done by one who claimed to have faith in his teachings was more so. A king slaughtering his own people while claiming to serve the All Father! He could not let those crimes pass.”
“So he had his servants prepared a potion of divine will and you were given it.”
“It was a potion from the Goddess' accursed elven priests,” Heri corrected him, not even sure why he bothered. The wizard didn't seem at all concerned by his plight. Was he no longer interested in gold? Because though Heri had nothing he would pretend to offer him a fortune. Then kill him – properly this time.
“Her priests did prepare a potion for you to stop you murdering people, but that was not sufficient for the All Father. Not when you had betrayed him and murdered his servants. When you had betrayed your duties as king – and done it in his name. Not when you looked to be intent on continuing to do so. And not when you interfered in his plans by trying to kill his servant – the Fire Angel. And so you were given a different potion instead. One that will ensure that you spend the rest of your life atoning for your crimes, not merely incapable of committing more.”
The rest of his life? That did not sound good. But could it be true? Heri didn't know. It could be he supposed. Elves were a tricky people as he was beginning to realise. But regardless it didn't matter. He just wanted it gone. He certainly didn't want this to endure for the rest of his life.
“So what? They're only priests! You're a wizard. You have some knowledge of these things. I have gold and I want to be rid of this curse.” Heri put it plainly.
“But even if I could remove the All Father's blessing, why would I?” Augrim looked up at him from the fire and smiled easily. “After all I was the one who swapped the potions and made sure you got the right one.”
Heri sat there for a heartbeat, stunned beyond measure, unable to believe he had just heard what he had. Then he screamed with fury, threw the cup aside and leapt on the smiling wizard with arms outstretched.
Or he tried to. But he couldn't. No muscle so much as twitched as he willed them to act. Nor did a scream make it out of his mouth. Not even a small one. Though he was tried to do all those things he could do nothing. He just ended up sitting there quietly. The cup of tea didn't so much as shake in his hands. And Augrim ignored him completely, choosing instead to concentrate on scratching the back of the snap wolf's head.
It was a long time before Heri found some calm again. A long time spent just sitting there with the tea in his hands, filled with hate. But eventually he had to accept that he could do neither of those things. That he had to obey if he wanted to have any free will. Even ask a question.
“Why? Why would you do that? Didn't I reward you well for your services?”
“Because my Lord commanded it of course.” Augrim shrugged as if it was obvious. And maybe it was to him.
“And perhaps I too owe you a small apology. For deceiving you when I came into your employ. You see I am not a wizard. I have no magic at all. I am the High Priest for the All Father. He grants me whatever magic and knowledge he deems I need.”
“But then you did try to murder me, so I think that evens things out!”
The All Father had had his High Priest working for him as a magical advisor? Heri tried to find a reason for that and failed. Though really he didn't want a reason. He wanted blood! But he couldn't have blood and the only way he could even get answers was by being calm. And he needed answers. He needed to know what sort of trouble he was in. So eventually he managed to restrain his temper enough that he was able to ask why.
“Someone had to bring you all those ancient treasures. They had to be ready, waiting for when the time was right for them to be used.” Augrim smiled some more. “After all did you really imagine that any simple wizard could just find them? Or if he did that he would ever give them to you?”
“The gold was welcome though. My Lord's servants made good use of it.”
The rage flared once more in Heri's heart and he would have leapt on him and strangled him with his bare hands all over again if he could have. But he couldn't. He couldn't even scream. And no more could he pray for the gods to strike the vile wretch down. Not when he would be praying to the All Father to strike down his own servant. Which left him sitting there, helpless and filled with rage and trying to keep a measure of calm. He was beginning to understand that it was the only way he was going to be able to do anything. Even ask a question.
“The All Father wanted me to have all those artefacts? Why?”
“No. He wanted them all kept together in a safe place for when they were needed. They were never to be yours. You were just their keeper.”
“I see.” Actually he did see. He had been used as a storekeeper. But it made him angry to realise he had been used. He was a king not a peon!
“Maybe some, but not all.”
Augrim offered Heri another cup of the tea and Heri let him refill it. The tea was good and it was calming. He needed to be calm. He needed to listen. And he needed the damned snap wolf to remain calm. Somehow he suspected that it would take it amiss if he started yelling at Augrim.
“The All Father has now restored a little more of the world to rights. Crodan the Mountain has been punished once again for trying to usurp the other gods. Now he has no people, no followers, no High Priest and little power. It will be a hundred thousand years at least before he can even think to challenge the others. And a million before he forgets how easily he was tricked.”
“He thought the All Father's servant was coming to destroy his servant. That it would be yet another five thousand years before another Dragon was born to serve him – if even then. He thought that if his servant took the largest of Draco's workshops, he would be able to build a bigger army, faster. So fast that the Fire Angel could not win. Instead he had his ser
vant walk into a trap.”
“The Goddess was most grievously hurt the last time Crodan tried to take the throne of the gods, and so she has had a fraction more of her power restored to her. And her symbol the phoenix now flies among the mountains. She will grow in strength once more and in time the scars of the last war such as the Dead Belly Wastes will be healed.”
“Draco's ancient workshops have been returned to him, forever beyond the ability of Crodan's followers to seize – now that he has no followers.”
“The Fire Angel has been seen once more and the legends of his mighty battles will soon become the songs of the bards and the tales of history. They will bring hope to future generations – and a little faith.”
“And in the world of men the ancient treasures have been given to those who will make good use of them. They will help to restore much of what was lost five thousand years ago. Those who have been driven from their homes will in time return to them. Once more a lesson of unity has been taught, as the greatest victories were won by those who stand as one. The greatest defeats suffered by those who remain divided.”
“And lest I forget one corrupt king has been removed from his throne. That will stand as a warning to others. A reminder that even the most powerful must submit to the All Father. Gods and kings both.”
Heri gathered he was the corrupt king Augrim was referring to. But for once he held his temper. He was beginning to realise he was in trouble. Especially when he saw the snap wolf yawn as Augrim petted it, and saw the shocking array of weaponry in its mouth.
“But you'll have plenty of time to learn the rest of it.”
“How much time?” Heri heard the part about him having time and immediately started to panic. It was starting to sound as though he'd been sentenced and he hadn't even had a trial. But trials were mortal things. The gods didn't generally get involved in such matters as he understood it. They just decided what punishments people would receive.
“Why, the rest of your life of course.” Augrim laughed merrily as if it was some sort of joke.
“But that's –.”
“ – Your fate.” Augrim finished Heri's sentence for him. “And it is of your own choosing.”
“My –?!”
“You were given the choice. I told you when your brother attacked the keep that he was too strong for you. That he was working with others more powerful still. You could have walked away. You should have. But you chose to let your hatred dictate your actions. And everything has followed from that. Now here you are.”
“Be grateful. The All Father could be much harsher. But he still intends to make an example of you.”
“Now drink up. You have a lot of work to do and it begins today. There are temples to rebuild, people to bring to them, offerings to be collected, prayers to be intoned and temple floors to clean.”
“But I'm not a priest!” Heri objected.
“No, of course not.” Augrim pretended to look concerned for a moment. Then his expression hardened. “You're a serf.”
“I am not –!” Heri lost his temper and again tried to yell, only to have his voice dry up. But this time he didn't care that he couldn't scream at the wizard and he couldn't move. He was simply too angry to care.
“Yes you are.” Augrim started preening his beard some more. “Some serve from love as do the priests. Some serve by their nature as does your brother. And some serve as slaves, as now do you. This is the All Father's judgement.”
“For the rest of your life you will be Heri the serf. The people will see you scrubbing the floors of the temples, cleaning out the waste ponds and mucking out the pigs. And they will know that you were once a king who betrayed his family, his people and his god. They will laugh and pelt you with rotten fruit. The bards will sing of your fall for a thousand years and across a thousand realms. Artists will travel the world to paint your image. And perhaps a few of the high and mighty will learn a lesson from your example.”
“No!” Heri gave up and yelled at the former wizard, and this time he actually managed to get that one word out before he locked up. But he was a king. He could not become the village idiot. A figure of ridicule. Someone to laugh at. It was just too much.
“Yes.” Augrim let that smile of his spread over his entire face. “You should be pleased. You will finally be the king whose name the world will remember!” Augrim finally gave up on restraining himself and burst into great peals of laughter and the snap wolf started growling in agreement.
Heri meanwhile just had to sit there, completely frozen, unable to even object, and listen to his former magic adviser laughing at him. He thought in that moment that his hatred for him almost eclipsed his hatred for his half-brother. But no amount of hatred was going to help him. Because while the anger and the hatred flowed through him like water, he still knew that there was nothing he could do. He was completely helpless. And that he slowly realised, was his destiny.
It just wasn't fair!
Chapter Fifty
Home! After so long spent on the back of a horse Sam was infinitely glad to see the last length of the journey in front of him. A long straight stretch of track with only small trees lining either side. The new city of Shavarra was only a league or so in front of him. He was glad too to no longer be riding a moose. It had taken him a week to find a wild horse to ride, and a week on the back of a moose had felt like an eternity of suffering. It had been a loyal animal and it had served him well, but it simply wasn't meant to be ridden. Now hopefully it was back with its herd, no doubt telling them equally unpleasant things about the human who had chosen to jump on his back and ride him.
Sam was confused as he set eyes on the distant city. Why was the sky filled with rainbows? That didn't look right. One rainbow he could understand. But scores of them? They had transformed the entire sky into something he didn't recognise, though it was beautiful. And where was the rain that went with them?
And where were the people? Normally the stretch of track he was on would have others on it. Foresters hunting logs for the city as it was built. Hunters out looking for food. Traders who regularly plied the routes between the cities of the Golden River Flats. But looking ahead all he could see was an empty track.
Perhaps he had been expecting that someone would be waiting to greet him? The Fire Angel returning from his mighty victory? Then again perhaps that was just arrogance and false pride. Besides, how would they know he was here? The Window of Parsus was an incredible ancient treasure, but it had its limits. It was easy enough to use it to show far away cities. But they were always in the same place. Trying to find a man on horseback who could be anywhere was much harder.
Still, the empty track seemed strange. Then again, they were living in strange times. He didn't understand why or how exactly. But the world was changing. The elders had managed to contact him once as he'd travelled to the Dead Creek Pass and told him a little of what was happening in the world.
The phoenix was now flying the skies. The glorious symbol of the Goddess was now seen over the entire continent and perhaps beyond. And they were no longer certain that it was just one. Dragons were being seen more often now too. They were flying the skies above their mountain lairs. As for the trolls they had reverted all the way back to savagery. They no longer wore clothes – not even the rags they once had. They no longer spoke. And they no longer carried weapons. They didn't even stand up straight. Whatever it was that had once made them like men had vanished. Sam wasn't completely certain whether that made them less dangerous or more. But what he did understand was that it made them no longer Crodan's followers. Crodan no longer had any. And that weakened him.
All of that was in part his doing and yet he wasn't certain he had actually caused any of it. He was certain though that any of it that was his doing he hadn't intended. It hadn't been an accident either. Others had been guiding things. Actually they had been directing them. He'd just been used. And he knew he wasn't alone.
Heri had certainly been used, though no one could explain
how it was that he had become a vessel for the All Father. Or when it had happened. Nor could they explain how or why he had had so many ancient treasures – including of all things, the ones they would need to defeat the Dragon.
And Sam suspected that the Dragon had been manipulated as well. He had left his island because he had thought an attack was imminent. So he had looked for another base. Sam still didn't know why he'd believed that an attack was coming. But he was sure it was the reason he'd moved. It was the only thing that made sense.
It went beyond just pushing and prodding though. The gods had done more than that. He suspected that they had actually empowered him. He didn't know how exactly. Or when or even why. But he had had time to recover his magic on the month and a half long trip back here, and he knew he no longer had the strength he had once had. It was as though they had granted him a little extra magic just so he could do what he needed to, and now that he didn't need it they had taken it back. In the same way he had been granted knowledge. The shape to call a roc and to transform it into a phoenix. That knowledge was gone now. He had done it. But he could no longer remember how he had done it.
