Demonkin

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Colonel Fisker shoved the envelope into his pouch and followed Colonel Corry out the door. They hurried out of the building and then walked towards the Royal Palace of Aerta.

  “When the shift change arrived this morning,” Colonel Corry related, “the new guards found the guards from last night sleeping. The outer door was unlocked, and there were also two kegs of ale in the lobby.”

  “Those men will be lucky if they don’t hang,” scowled Colonel Fisker. “Where are the elves?”

  “We don’t know,” answered Colonel Corry. “I suspect that is the reason for the general’s meeting. I imagine that King Anator is seething about this. If we don’t recover the elves, he will have to report the loss to Emperor Jaar, and that will make things hard on everyone around here.”

  “The elves could not have just disappeared,” replied Colonel Fisker. “Either they left the city through one of the gates or by sea, or they are still in the city. Did you ask for reports from the gate guards and the harbormaster?”

  “The reports will be sent directly to General Antero’s office,” answered Colonel Corry as they arrived at the gates of the palace.

  The two colonels passed through the gates and into the palace. They made their way to the general’s office and found the general studying some reports. The general did not immediately recognize the colonels, and Colonel Fisker took the time to retrieve the message left for him. He read the message and a deep furrow creased his brow. He shoved the paper back into his pouch as the general turned to face him.

  “There was a single caravan that left the city last night,” the general stated. “Perhaps the elves talked the drivers into hiding them. I want several squads sent after the caravan, and one of you will be leading the column. I want it searched thoroughly. If the children are in those wagons, I want every human associated with that caravan executed. Their bodies are to be posted alongside the road as a warning to others who might try such foolishness. The elves are to be brought back to the center.”

  “What if the wagons are empty?” asked Colonel Corry.

  “Then they have already let the elves flee,” frowned the general. “In that case I want everyone brought back to Giza. We may have to torture the truth out of them.”

  “It is possible that the elves are still in the city,” offered Colonel Fisker. “Should we start a search for them?”

  “The city gates are closed,” replied General Antero. “No one is getting in or out except the two of you and the squads going with you. Check the caravan first. If that doesn’t turn up anything, we will start a house-to-house search.”

  “Are we sure that they didn’t escape by boat?” asked Colonel Corry.

  “No,” the general replied. “The harbormaster reports several ships leaving after dusk, but he didn’t think anyone would have allowed the elves onto their ship, and he didn’t think they could sneak onto the ships without him noticing.”

  “Perhaps we should send out ships to search just in case,” suggested Colonel Corry.

  “They can’t go anywhere in the Sea of Tears,” mused the general. “We can notify the troops at the Needle to watch out for any ships leaving the Sea of Tears, but then I can’t imagine the elves trying to get to Elfwoods by ship. That would be very foolish, but we don’t even know who we are dealing with yet.”

  Colonel Fisker was leaning over the general’s desk perusing the reports from the gate guards. His sudden intake of air caused the conversation to stop. Colonel Corry and General Antero looked at him and waited.

  “This report says that Captain Beck left the city with the caravan,” noted Colonel Fisker. “Captain Beck is one of the officers at the reeducation center. What would he be doing escorting a caravan?”

  The general picked up the report and stared at it. He dropped the report on the desk and reached for a journal on the desk. He flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

  “Captain Beck was on duty last night,” announced the general.

  “That would explain how the door of the center was opened,” said Colonel Fisker. “As an officer of the guard, he would have a set of keys to the center.”

  “The elves didn’t open it from the inside?” asked Colonel Corry.

  “The elven children did not run away,” stated Colonel Fisker. “This was a rescue engineered by the rebels. I have good reasons to believe that the rebels bribed Captain Beck.”

  “What reasons?” asked the general.

  “Captain Beck was seen gambling this week at the illegal games that seem to flourish in the city,” answered Colonel Fisker. “He reportedly lost over thirty-thousand in gold in just two nights.”

  “Thirty-thousand?” echoed Colonel Corry. “There is no way that a captain could have that much gold.”

  “So we are not looking for a bunch of runaway children,” mused the general. “This complicates things a great deal.”

  “How so?” asked Colonel Corry.

  “If the rebels are involved,” explained the general, “King Anator will have to notify Emperor Jaar immediately. If the rebels are bold enough to break into one of the centers, the other centers are at risk. This is no longer a matter that just affects Giza. How sure of this are you, Fisker? I do not want to tell the king to contact Despair unless you are sure.”

  Before the colonel could answer, a messenger entered the room and handed a paper to the general. The general read it and his lips turned down in disgust. He handed the paper to Colonel Fisker. Colonel Fisker read the note penned by Captain Beck and then handed it to Colonel Corry.

  “Where was this found?” the general asked the messenger.

  “At the reeducation center,” answered he messenger. “The officer over there thought it had to do with the two kegs of ale. He also said to tell you that the ale was tampered with. The guards were drugged.”

  “Thank you,” the general said dismissively.

  The messenger retreated from the office, and the general turned to the colonels.

  “I want both of you to stop that caravan. I will be informing King Anator of our incompetence, so neither of you will want to be in the city when I return from his office. Perhaps I will have calmed down by the time you return with the elves.”

  The colonels saluted and hastily exited the general’s office.

  “You assemble the squads,” Colonel Fisker said to Colonel Corry. “I want to make a stop before I leave the city.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To Beck’s home. I have a suspicion that Captain Beck was into more than one illegal activity. He seems to have been a very busy man last night.”

  * * * *

  The lead wagon hit a hole in the Coast Road, and Captain Beck woke with a start. He glanced groggily at the rising sun over the Sea of Tears and then looked around as if to get his bearings.

  “Good morning,” smiled Cobb. “You must have had a hard night last night. I haven’t known too many people that can sleep sitting up like that.”

  “Where are we?”

  “About five leagues south of Giza.”

  “Is that all?” frowned the captain.

  “I guess you don’t travel much with caravans,” smiled Cobb. “Wagons move quite slow compared to cavalry, especially if the riders are in a hurry.”

  The captain gazed at the countryside moving by slowly, and he frowned again. “Would it be possible to buy a horse from the caravan? I would like to move at a faster pace than this.”

  “Horses are worth more than gold to caravans,” replied Cobb. “Besides, we don’t have any spares with us on this trip. I think you are stuck with us for a while.”

  Captain Beck fell silent as the caravan moved lazily along the Coast Road. After a while, he leaned out of the seat to gaze back along the caravan, but he didn’t see what he was looking for.

  “Which wagon is Natia on?”

  “Natia?”

  “The woman I was with last night. She is the one who brought me to you. Which wagon is she on?”
<
br />   “There is no woman in this caravan,” replied Cobb. “I guess whoever she is, she decided to go her own way.”

  “What?” the captain sputtered.

  Cobb merely shrugged and ignored the question. For several minutes, they rode on in silence, but the captain’s mind whirled with the mystery of what was going on. He couldn’t believe that he was actually on the run from the Federation, and it was all because of Natia. And now she wasn’t even with the caravan. Captain Beck sighed. Cobb looked at the captain questioningly.

  “I am hungry,” the captain announced. “Is there anything to eat?”

  “We have plenty to eat,” chuckled Cobb. “We are carrying food for Valdo, but we can’t touch any of it. It seems that the army convoys heading down that way have been robbed quite a bit lately. Someone in Giza finally got smart and decided to try a private merchant. We have our own provisions to eat, though. I will share mine with you when we stop later.”

  Captain Beck was not interested in Valdo’s problems. “How long until we stop?”

  “Well,” mused Cobb, “we would have normally stopped for the morning meal by now, but I expect that we will ride on a bit more before stopping today.”

  “Why not stop now?” asked Captain Beck. “There is plenty of room alongside the road here.”

  “The caravan master has decided to press on this morning,” replied Cobb. “He said that we might as well have our morning meal when the soldiers arrive to stop us. No sense in stopping twice.”

  “Soldiers?” the captain asked nervously. “Why would soldiers be stopping us?”

  “Ah,” Cobb replied with a smile. “I forgot that you were sleeping when the rider came by. It seems that there was some trouble in Giza last night. The rider said that the gates of Giza had been closed, and he indicated that soldiers would probably be searching every road leaving the city and stopping anyone who was there last night. That is why we are waiting to have the morning meal.”

  “What kind of trouble?” Captain Beck asked with a sick feeling in his stomach.

  “Nothing major like the last time they shut down the city,” replied Cobb. “He said it was just something to do with the elves. It seems that all of the elven children have disappeared. The soldiers are going crazy trying to find them again.”

  The captain’s face paled and his hands started shaking, but Cobb pretended not to notice. He cheerily continued his monologue.

  “I imagine some minor officer probably left some door unlocked or something like that, and all those elves just sneaked out.” He laughed at the thought and continued, “Boy, I sure wouldn’t want to be that officer. I bet that King Anator will have the skin peeled off that man just to make up for his embarrassment when he has to inform Emperor Jaar of the incident. It’s just like those in power to make others suffer when they are angry. They can’t be happy just killing the poor offender. Oh no, they have to torture him. I never could understand what pleasure that brings anyone.”

  “Shut up!” shouted Captain Beck. “Just shut up!”

  * * * *

  Colonel Fisker and Colonel Corry led the column of Federation soldiers along the Coast Road at a very fast pace. The horses were lathered, but neither officer was willing to stop until they caught up to the caravan. As they rounded a bend in the road, they saw the caravan in the distance.

  “At last,” Colonel Corry said jubilantly. “I was beginning to doubt that there even was a caravan on this road.”

  “They have seen us,” Colonel Fisker commented as his eyes focused on the wagons and the warriors guarding them. “Have the men ready their bows in case there is resistance.”

  Colonel Corry passed the word back and then focused on the caravan as they gained on it.

  “They are pulling off the road,” frowned Colonel Corry. “Do you think they plan to make a stand?”

  “I don’t know,” Colonel Fisker replied, “but it doesn’t look like it. They are not setting the wagons in a defensive position, but we will approach them with caution.”

  “Look!” Colonel Corry pointed towards the front of the caravan. “That is a Federation uniform.”

  “Captain Beck, if I am not mistaken. I think we have found what we are searching for.”

  “What is that fool doing?” asked Colonel Corry as he watched the captain run across the road and climb over a small fence. “Does he think he can outrun a horse?”

  “I’m on him,” Colonel Fisker announced as Captain Beck started running across a field of crops.

  Colonel Fisker pressed his horse onward and moments later the horse leaped over the small fence. Captain Beck kept looking over his shoulder and saw the colonel racing after him. The captain suddenly halted and drew his sword.

  “Drop the sword, Beck,” shouted Colonel Fisker. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “So you already know about me,” snarled the captain. “I am not going back with you.”

  Colonel Fisker did not want to kill Captain Beck. He halted his horse some distance from the fugitive and quickly dismounted. Drawing his own sword, he approached the captain cautiously. Captain Beck moved warily, looking for an opening to slay his pursuer. Suddenly the captain glanced beyond the colonel, and the movement made Fisker turn around. He saw several soldiers of his group riding their horses over the fence. He immediately turned back to face the captain, but it was too late. Captain Beck had driven his sword through his own neck. The colonel watched the captain’s body tumble to the ground. He raced to the captain and knelt next to him. Beck gurgled unintelligibly and then died.

  Colonel Fisker shook his head and stood up. He glanced across the road and saw Colonel Corry and the rest of the soldiers surrounding the caravan. The caravan warriors all stood passively, with their hands well away from their weapons. Colonel Fisker ordered one of the men, who had followed him into the field, to tend to his horse. He then climbed the fence and crossed the road to join Colonel Corry.

  “The wagons are full of food,” Colonel Corry said to Colonel Fisker as he walked him a short distance away from the wagons.

  “Could they have loaded them after getting rid of the children?”

  “They have papers for the shipment.” Colonel Corry shook his head. “It is our food, Fisker. The Federation is paying them to carry the food to Valdo. There is no way that the children came out of the city in these wagons. The children wouldn’t even fit in the wagons. They are all packed tight.”

  “Make sure of it,” replied Colonel Fisker. “The children could be hidden behind the food. I want to be sure, even if we have to unload every wagon in the caravan.”

  Colonel Corry nodded and walked back to his men inspecting the wagons. Colonel Fisker walked to the first wagon in the caravan. He stared at the driver for a minute before approaching him.

  “Captain Beck was riding with you?”

  “The officer?” asked Cobb. “Yes, but he never mentioned his name.”

  “Why was he with you?”

  Cobb frowned deeply. “At first I thought he was some kind of guard for the shipment. That is what the caravan master thought as well. He hopped onto my wagon last night just before we left the city.”

  “At first?” questioned Colonel Fisker. “What made you change your mind?”

  “His comments,” replied Cobb. “And his nervousness. Last night he was dripping as if it were raining out, but it wasn’t. And he was sweating profusely, as if he had just run a couple of leagues, but he hadn’t. He wasn’t out of breath or anything like that.”

  “What did he talk about?”

  “For the most part, he was kind of quiet, but he was really irked by the slow pace of the caravan. He kept complaining about how slow we were going. It was like he was in a hurry. He asked to buy one of our horses, but we would never part with one. They are essential to our business.”

  “That’s it?” frowned the colonel. “Did he say anything about Giza or elves?”

  “Elves?” Cobb raised an eyebrow. “Not a word. Oh,” Cobb added almost
as an afterthought, “he did say something strange when I tried to explain to him that caravans always move slowly. He said something about how he should have taken the ship, but he feared the Needle. It made no sense to me. Everyone knows that you don’t go through the Needle to get to Valdo from Giza.”

  Colonel Fisker’s eyes widened at the mention of the Needle. It indicated that the elves were probably onboard a ship. He turned away from Cobb and strode to Colonel Corry.

  “I think we are looking in the wrong place,” he said quietly. “I think Beck was merely fleeing the city because he knew that the rescue would finger him as a traitor. He mentioned to the driver that he should have taken the ship, but he feared going through the Needle.”

  “The Needle?” frowned Colonel Corry. “That means that the elves are not bound for Elfwoods. Where would they be trying to get to?”

  “Perhaps the rebels have a base beyond the Needle,” proposed Colonel Fisker. “I do remember hearing that the rebels that attacked our fleet came in through the Needle.”

  “We also have ships patrolling offshore,” stated Colonel Corry. “No one has ever been able to explain to me why they are out there. I think there is a lot of knowledge about the rebels that is not being shared with us.”

  “I agree,” Colonel Fisker responded. “I plan to ask some questions about that when we return to Giza. How is the search going?”

  “I have men crawling into each wagon. Frankly, I think we are wasting time here. The warriors are not even anxious about our searching. That alone tells me that they know that we will find nothing.”

  “Pull the men out of the wagons,” agreed Colonel Fisker. “We need to get word back to Giza about the need to search the Sea of Tears.”

  “And beyond.”

  Chapter 45

  The Storm

  The wind whipped through the streets of Valdo as the monstrous hurricane approached the city. The stinging rain blew horizontally out of the north, and the soldier used the protection of the buildings as he headed eastward towards the Royal Palace. When he reached the intersection, he halted and stuck his head around the corner. The wind blasted his face, and the rain pelted his skin. He pulled his head back and sighed as he looked at the intersection. Pieces of cloth and tree branches were flying down the cross street, and the street itself resembled a river more than a road. An eerie howl sung through the buildings protecting him, and he wondered how much of a storm the old buildings could really withstand.