by Philip Blood
Looking at Gustin, she explained. "I believe this is a poison that is effective on Kirnath because it ruins your mind's ability to concentrate. It's rare, and lucky for me, this batch is evidently old and has very little potency left; still..." she said, dropping it to the ground, "smash it."
Gustin needed no further instruction; he brought the heavy ax down and smashed the bottle to dust.
Elizabeth held up the heavy purse she'd also found on the body. "He had this," she said, pouring out a few of the gold round, "I'd say a man like this would not have this kind of wealth unless he had just been paid to murder, someone."
Gustin nodded, it rang true.
Elizabeth took her struggling son and he immediately calmed down now that he was back in his mother’s arms. "Thank you all for your swift protection, but we MUST get moving. This is only the first of the attacks we will face once they learn I have escaped. Trust me; I will explain what has happened when Michael is safe, but for now we must flee."
“They’re gone,” stated Harland Von Dracek to CAracusS, who was pacing up and down the carpeted floor of Jatar’s study like a fangclaw in a circus cage, all he needed were bars and a worn track beneath his feet to complete the picture.
“How sure are you? I thought she was completely fooled when she spoke with me,” complained CAracusS shaking Jatar’s handsome head with disbelief.
“I’m positive, a gate guard told me she rode out with three men and four spare horses; she knew you were not her husband.”
“How could she know, I let nothing slip,” CAracusS said, vehemently.
“She sensed you, necromancer like I can sense you now. An initiate with aura powers can sense the presence of the Dark Plane. It leaves a mental stink that even I, an informally trained sorcerer, can pick up when I get close to you,” complained Von Dracek with a curl of his nose to emphasize the foulness.
“Nonsense, I smell nothing,” replied CAracusS, sniffing disdainfully.
“This is hard to explain, but it’s not a real smell, you don’t detect it with your nostrils. Think of it as explaining colors to a blind man, it’s nearly impossible because he lacks a basis of comparison; but take my word for it, if I can smell you then a concentrating Kirnath Adept could detect traces of you from leagues away."
CAracusS merely scowled at the Tchulian.
Von Dracek continued: “That’s why we hoped her attention would remain on the church ceremony instead of the palace long enough to keep her aura powers from picking up your scent. Obviously, it didn’t work, and now we have a bigger problem; the wife of our murdered victim is a Kirnath Adept, and she knows what we have done."
"She is only one woman," CAracusS pointed out.
Von Dracek shook his head sadly, “She could cause us trouble when she spreads the story about what happened to Jatar, and you can bet her guesses aren’t too far off the mark. Her early instruction on everything to do with aura power certainly covered the use of cathexis artifacts. And never forget, she is a fully trained sorceress, we’d be fools to underestimate her power."
"I do not fear these sorcerers. She may have fled the city, but there is still enough time to catch her before she can contact anyone and do us harm."
The Tchulian nodded and replied, “We will try and catch her, but even if she escaped we will have a few weeks to consolidate our position before some upper-level commander hears one of Lady Ardellen’s rumors and begins to put them together with the strange changes in their ruler's personality and policies, however, just to be safe I think we should start the personnel changes immediately,” Von Dracek counseled.
“Do you think it wise to begin the accusations and removals of the key officers this fast?” wondered the necromancer.
“I don’t see that we have any choice. Lady Ardellen may be spreading those rumors all too soon. I think we should make our first major move tomorrow and imprison the top military leaders; they carry too much weight with the troops.”
“Won’t that make people even more suspicious about their ruler?” worried CAracusS.
“The leaders, yes, but most of the populace will believe anything their beloved Lord Jatar tells them with no question. It’s the commanders and the household servants that will see the difference in how you act. No matter how good you are, those who were close to Jatar will begin to suspect, and if they hear the rumors... no, they must be imprisoned or killed and quickly,” finished Von Dracek striking his gloved fist into his palm.
“Then I should be making up some pretext for their arrests, perhaps something about a plot to assassinate myself and Lady Ardellen, we could incorporate yesterday's fake assassination attempt. We can say that Lady Ardellen is in flight from more of the assassins, and I could send you out to save her. After all, it will make sense; you are the hero that saved me from the other assassins yesterday. I’ll tell them that most of the military leaders and some household servants were in on the plot, so we are locking them all up until Lady Ardellen and the heir are safe and we can get this whole thing sorted out. Later, when we’ve blamed Lady Ardellen’s death on the assassins, we’ll sentence those imprisoned to death,” the necromancer said, finishing his proposed plan.
“Good idea, why don’t you polish the story tonight and you can implement it tomorrow. Meanwhile, I will begin my attempt to track down the missing heir and his Kirnath mother. I'll use my personal Tchulian troop, they can be trusted to do as I say,” said the major.
“I can help you track her down. I have control of a few vorghouls; it’s time we put them to use. I’ll send them into the forests and fields to help flush out the quarry for you. Once they have something that Lady Ardellen wore recently they’ll follow her trail better than a blood weff. Vorghouls can follow a scent anywhere."
Von Dracek raised an eyebrow at the mention of using souldead. “And how will my men and I avoid being eaten?”
“Take this pendant with you,” CAracusS said as he removed a gold chain with a thick circle attached. Within the gold circle was a silver equilateral triangle. “If you ever get into trouble with the vorghoul, just show them this pendant and they will leave you and your party alone. Don’t lose it,” finished the necromancer sternly.
“Don’t worry, I value my life. Now before I go is there anything else we need to discuss?”
“Yes, I can’t seem to locate the Ardellen signet ring, and I can’t just ask someone where it is, I’m the one who’s supposed to know!”
“Have you looked for it thoroughly?” asked Dracek with a puzzled frown.
“Of course, but it’s not with any of their other valuables; besides, I thought he wore it at all times.”
“It’s possible that he may have sent it to validate an ambassador’s credentials, but that would be very odd. I’ll have to give this some thought. Why don’t you ask for an update on all foreign embassies that have been sent out in the last six months? At least then we can find out about possible carriers. Oh, and have you seen our co-conspirator around? I have some questions for him about Lady Ardellen's escape.”
“No, and you're right, that fool caused all this. He assured me that his assassins had loosened the wall stones above the front entrance to the church and that they were going to push them over onto Elizabeth and the child as they departed from the ceremony. That pompous little shit hasn't dared to show his face since he bungled his end of the deal. Forget the fool, for the time being we don’t need him anyway, everything is under our control, but don't worry, like the proverbial bad coin, he’ll turn up eventually.”
Elizabeth and the Knight Protectors finally slowed their horses to a walk. The horses were sweating profusely and were nearly done in from the long fast gallop out of the city. The four riders dismounted and walked their mounts along the forest path. They had switched to the spare horses and back again twice, prolonging the distance that they traveled at a gallop before giving the horses this much-needed rest.
Their initial ride got them clear of the city and surrounding farm lands and a few minut
es ago they had entered the northern edge of the vast Gellern Forest.
Now that the long gallop was over Elizabeth decided it was time to explain everything she knew about what had happened. When her story concluded the knights were silent for a moment in thought, finally Drake said, “Then Becaris will leave once he reads your message and try to rejoin us within the forest, correct?”
Elizabeth nodded and replied, “Yes, eventually I hope to meet up with the other knights as well as our loyal leaders, retainers and servants. I’ll have the Kirnath secretly gather them as they make their way deeper into the wood.” Elizabeth stopped speaking for a moment and the concern about the danger to those loyal to the Ardellens was obvious in the faraway look in her eyes. “I will ask the Kirnath to help us gather any refugees who come into the wood and send them on to wherever we end up.”
Hetark glanced back toward the capital, though it was long since out of sight. “What about Lasar and Rasal, they were in the city at the time we left.”
“Becaris will show or explain the letter to them,” Elizabeth replied.
“It’s hard to believe that just this morning we were knighted and now we are fugitives,” mused Drake as they continued to walk.
Elizabeth gave him a sidelong glance and said, “Do you regret taking your oath?”
Drake looked shocked as he replied, “No, milady!” He abruptly stopped and released his horse's bridle and with a swift pull he drew his sword and knelt before Elizabeth, “I am Michael Ardellen’s man, his Knight Protector, and I hereby reconfirm my oath to him as Protector and to you, milady, as my ruler and the mother of my charge.”
The other Knight Protectors also knelt and reconfirmed their oaths. The party had come to a halt in a small glade beneath the canopy of tall trees; the open forest floor was coated with brown twigs and leaves from countless winters which acted to dampen sounds to a minimum. Lady Ardellen stood in the center of her three knights as they knelt to offer their pledge. The knight’s gauntlets were clenched around their sword hilts, the tip of their sword pressed into the soft leaves.
The utter trust, honesty, and love that these young men displayed to Elizabeth’s penetrating aura gaze made her emotions well up and tears came to her eyes. A moment later she found her voice, “Rise, my knights, you will never know just how much your loyalty means to me in this dark time. From all the Ardellens, including Jatar’s spirit wherever it may be, we thank you. Now let us continue for we have far to go and I fear that danger will overtake us anon.”
“Where do we travel to, milady?” asked Drake.
“To the end of the world; the northern end, but to be precise, Bralter. I would have liked to take Michael south to the Kirnath School, but I think that our pursuers will look for us along that path. For now, let us continue toward Mordan’s border where we will petition Lord Stalt for leave to cross through to Bralter. That is a country where we will be welcomed and protected, it is the place where Jatar's foster brother, Lord Trask, rules in the north.”
“If they expect us to go south, then why are we traveling in that direction now, milady?” asked Gustin.
“I don’t want to attempt a crossing of the mountains into Mordan with such a small party with few provisions, so we must skirt the lower portions of the western range until we can make it around the end. We can re-provision in Mordan and then travel north along the other side of the range toward Bralter. This way we leave a false trail toward the Kirnath School. It should take our enemies a little time to get organized enough to mount their pursuit, so I think we are safe enough to continue along this path for a short time.”
Just two bells behind Elizabeth’s fleeing party, Major Von Dracek and a squad of twenty Tchulian Mercs galloped out of the city gates; each man trailed two extra mounts to help close the distance on their quarry.
Within the capital city, Lord Jatar Ardellen’s coach pulled up to a shabby little tavern. Two brutish buildings leaned in on the tavern from either side, squashing the smaller building into submission. The tavern's upstairs windows were like two rectangular eyes looking down forlornly on the street. A faded sign hung at an odd angle from the one surviving hinge. The sign had once proclaimed this the Saucy Wench and pictured a buxom girl clenching six mugs of ale in her meaty hands, but now the old sign was almost completely faded back to the original wood grain.
CAracusS slipped out of the coach and pulled up the hood of his cloak to conceal Jatar's fine clothes and well-known features. The necromancer spoke to his driver in a low voice that wouldn't carry far, “Move the coach down a block and wait.”
His drivers and guard looked at each other in puzzlement; this was odd behavior for their ruler. CAracusS ignored them and stalked toward the tavern entrance.
With his dark cloak wrapped around his finer clothes, the necromancer slipped into the tavern’s smoke filled common room without attracting much notice. He moved toward the back of the room purposefully as he headed toward the dimly lit corridor. The corridor led to a rear exit door that opened onto a small dead end alley.
CAracusS went out into the alley and closed the door. The cobblestone alley sloped inwards from either side toward the center drainage trough where dark water sat stagnate showing green bubbly patches floating here and there. To the right of the door, the alley ended into a tall refuse heap made of garbage, slime, old junk and other unspeakable muck.
CAracusS approached the pile and stopped a few paces away before glancing back over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching. It wouldn't do for someone to witness the body of Lord Jatar trafficking with evil creatures of the night. When he was satisfied that he was alone he turned back to face the refuse heap and spoke in a quiet, but commanding voice, “Step forth; it is your master CAracusS who calls you!”
A vorghoul creature emerged from behind the refuse. Even though it was stooped over in a crouch that nearly brought its hands to the ground the beast still stood over six feet tall. The creature's misshapen body had corded muscles that bunched and rippled with the promise of incredible strength. When standing erect the vorghouls long arms hung down to its knees. The long arms made the legs look too short for the length of the body. Two incisor teeth projected down well below the lower lip of its wide mouth. Its hands were hairy with long, dark, pointed fingernails that could almost be called claws. It was all the more horrible because hints of the original human features were hidden among the abominable additions to its grotesque physique.
CAracusS raised his right hand and purple energy from the Dark Plane crackled and ran down the length of his arm. “Do you know me?” he demanded sternly.
The vorghoul spoke and its speech was impaired by the huge teeth extending from its mouth, “I know you, Mafter.”
“Good, and what is your worthless name?” asked CAracusS as he lowered his hand and let the energy from the Dark Plane cease.
“Werwoe.”
“How many of your brethren wait outside the city?”
Werwoe struggled with the concept of numbers for a moment and then held up two clawed fingers.
“Take this piece of cloth to your brethren and smell the scent. The woman who wore this last night is outside the city. She travels with a child and three men. Find and kill all the adults, you may eat the men, but under no circumstances are any of you allowed to consume the woman’s body. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
“Kill, and then eat them.”
“Kill the adults, but don’t eat the woman, do you understand?”
“Don’t eat them,” the vorghoul agreed.
“Eat the men, not the woman!” stormed CAracusS as he quickly extended his hand to let loose a small bolt of purple energy that struck the creature. “Darkness, why didn’t Vorg design these creatures to have half a brain?”
Flinching from the pain, the monstrous creature nodded and said, “Yes, Mafter.”
“Good, now one more very important thing, the small boy she carries is not to be harmed in any way. If he is damaged I will send you, Werwoe,
and those who harmed him to the Dark Plane to be consumed by the Darknulls, even if you lacked a part in the mistake, understand?”
“Not the Darknullf, pleafe Mafter, Pleafe!”
“Bring the boy safely to me and you shall dine on the warm blood of mortals nightly for a full moon,” CAracusS promised.
“I leave to eat them now!” the monster exclaimed and leaped up and backward launching itself off the refuse heap toward the eaves where it caught and swung itself up and over the edge of the roof and out of sight.
“But don’t eat the woman,” CAracusS said quietly to the empty alley as he shook his head in sad resignation.
A man happened to see the misshapen form of the vorghoul as it slithered over the outer wall of the city. He dropped the bottle of wine he had been drinking and hurried away, swearing off liquor and hoping that it had been the drink that brought on this vision of horror within the fair city of Tarnelin.
The Knight Protector Becaris was standing in the barracks near the palace with a colonel in the Lindankar army; they were alone in the officer’s room. When the officer finished reading the message Elizabeth had written he frowned and then refolded and slapped the note against his palm. He spoke to Becaris in a short clipped pattern of speech, “Have you read this?”
“No sir, I have not. I have been instructed to wait until I have delivered it to all the ranking commanders and personal servants of the rulers,” Becaris responded formally and stayed rigidly at attention.
“And have you done that?” the officer demanded.
“Nearly sir, you are the last officer; I showed it to the servants first.”
“Then read it now,” the officer commanded as he held the message out to Becaris.
Becaris opened the message and quickly scanned its contents, he swallowed and then read it again more carefully.
