Heima: Challenge to the Crown

by S. W. Gunn

  Trying her best to explain Astir said, “I did not understand either, at first. He showed me. He has a bond with the earth itself and it can speak to him. He said it has told him many things, things that no man could know.”

  Her mother interrupted, “Such as?”

  Astir could only imagine how her husband must have felt when he revealed his tale to her that night in his father’s yard. It must have been a little bit like what she felt now. Could she express it all and have her mother believe her? She did not know and honestly was not sure if she should try. She decided to have the same faith her husband had in her.

  Astir said, “He was told by Heima a story about our bloodline.”

  “What did he say?”

  Astir sighed again and then spoke, “He said that the first Queen was not of Heima.”

  “What does that mean?” Her mother interrupted.

  This was the part she imagined that Daell struggled to tell her but she decided to just say it, “She was the mortal form of Modira herself.”

  Astir again looked into her mother’s eyes. She could see that confusion was replaced by disbelief.

  Astir continued speaking, “He said that we are incarnations of Modira herself. He said it is why we are able to manipulate all four elements.”

  Her mother shook her head before she evenly stated, “Daughter we are not gods. We are the same as every other within Heima. We are just blessed with abilities and responsibility.”

  It was clear to Astir that she could not convince her mother as easily as Daell convinced her. She had thought on it for a moment. If there was only a way to show her as her husband had shown her. She decided that she would try. Maybe she could not earthcraft like her husband, but he did say that Heima was all of the elements as one.

  “Come with me.” She told her mother.

  She guided her mother through the doors of her quarters and then through the palace.

  As they stepped into the garden her mother asked, “Where are we going Astir?”

  “We are going here.” Astir answered.

  She remembered her husband had her remove her shoes so she flipped her sandals off and said to her mother, “Remove your shoes.”

  Her mother followed her request. Astir saw the very confused look on her face.

  “Kneel mother.”

  Astir knelt to the ground as her husband had her do each time. Her mother knelt down in front of her.

  Astir then instructed, “Now put your palms on the ground.”

  Her mother complied with her request. Astir took a deep breath. She doubted she could do it, but she had to try.

  “Alright, I doubt I can summon Heima, but maybe Daell’s abilities rubbed off enough that I could let you feel her. I need you to relax and focus your earthcrafting abilities on the earth below us.”

  Her mother nodded at the instructions. Astir gently placed her hands on her mother’s, making sure to interlace her fingers in the same manner as Daell did with her. Astir began to breathe softly and evenly as she concentrated. She extended her senses out into the earth itself. At first nothing happened but she continued to focus on the earth below her. After a moment she could as it pulsed very lightly. She could feel the pulsing as it vibrated through her mother’s hands. Astir reached for the pulse, she strove to pull it to herself as her husband did. She could not pull it at first, but slowly it began to rise from the earth below her. It passed through her mother’s hands and then began to flow into her. Her mother jumped from the pulsing and jerked her hands from the ground. Her mother’s movement forced Astir’s hands from the ground and cut the pulsing off. Her mother’s facial expression was pure amazement.

  “What was that?” She asked.

  “It was Heima below us mother. My husband can pull her to himself with ease. It took every bit of my effort for you to feel that slight twitch of her pulsing.”

  “But how does it speak to him?”

  Astir rose from her kneeling position and said, “The pulsing that you felt mother, Heima can speak to him through it. I heard it myself. It spoke within my mind as clearly as I speak to you now.”

  Her mother nodded solemnly. Astir could see that she believed her words now.

  Her mother asked, “What did it say?”

  Astir sighed before replying, “Heima called out to me and called me Modira.”

  “Modira?”

  “Yes, Heima sees us as Modira because we are an incarnation of her. She told me that she sent Daell to me. It seems that she fears for the future of her children, so she sent Daell to me.”

  “Children?”

  “Daell said that all of the people of Heima were her children. He said that Heima gifted them with the various abilities with the elements and that she was sad because her children fought with each other. Apparently Heima asked the gods for help to stop her children from fighting. So Modira herself came onto Heima and became our first Queen.”

  Her mother nodded. Astir could see that she was taking the whole tale in.

  “Mother did you ever hear the story that the first Queen had given birth to her heir when she was over one hundred harvests?”

  “Yes, but I had always thought that was just a tale.”

  Astir shook her head and stated, “Daell said it was fact. Since she was a god in mortal form she chose on her own when she would have her heir.”

  “It seems so outrageous Astir, to sit here and say that you and I are descended from a god.”

  “I know, but my husband claims it to be true and he has no reason to state such unless he felt it true.”

  “What else did your husband say?”

  Astir smiled at her before stating, “He knew I was with child before I did mother.”

  “How in Heima did he know that?”

  “He could sense it when he spoke to me in my mind.”

  Her mother looked quite confused as she asked, “What do you mean by spoke in your mind?”

  “He can move his thoughts through the pulsing that you felt.”

  Her mother nodded thoughtfully.

  Astir continued speaking, “Mother you should see his power, he can move the earth below us into any shape he desires.”

  “I saw his power earlier.”

  Astir shook her head and stated, “No mother, what he did in the throne room is just a sliver of what I have seen him do. When we were attacked by the assassins he literally formed a column of earth around us, and then had it explode about us as a weapon. He killed ten men with a thought. When we visited his family he actually formed an earthen replica of his home, just to show his father his new abilities. Daell can do things with earthcrafting never thought possible mother.”

  “Then why do you worry so much?” Her mother asked.

  Astir frowned as she paused a moment to think on it. Why did she worry? He was indeed as powerful as any man, and yet her heart dreaded his departure. She knew that even with his power, he was mortal. He could bleed and die as easily as any other man. Just the knowledge alone that he was away from her and could possibly never come back was crushing.

  “Because I love him so much that my heart would die without him.”

  Her mother had no reply. They stood there for some time silently. Finally Astir decided it was late enough in the evening that she would attempt to sleep. She turned to enter the palace when a young Aldarnari man, one of the many guards of the palace, came running to her. He bowed deeply. He was breathing quite heavily.

  “Your Majesty, Bygod is under siege.” He panted out between breaths.

  Chapter 28

  As Daell entered the carriage to leave the palace, he took one last look back at the palace and sighed heavily. The thought of leaving his wife and unborn child was unbearable. He knew that he had to go because his powers were needed by Viga and Heima to stop whatever was happening in Hellir and Kunnadi. As he sat in his seat he looked at Viga, who wore a face of grim determination. The carriage began to move towards the docks.

  Viga stated, “I was thinking
we should travel in secret, once we arrive in Heimili we should ride hestir instead of carriage. We can move faster on hestir and be much less likely to be noticed.”

  Daell nodded at his words. He wanted to ensure that every guard here stayed to protect his wife.

  “Then we will ride alone.”

  Viga must have known his reasoning because he just nodded his head firmly. The carriage ride to the docks was quick. Daell led Viga off the carriage and onto the gangplank of the Gjalfur.

  As soon as he was aboard he was greeted by the new Captain, Kroptugir who bowed deeply as he said, “Greetings Your Highness. What may your humble servant do for you?”

  “Captain, I need you to take myself and the Prince to Heimili. Once there you will collect as many Aldarnari guards as possible and bring them back to Bygod. As I am sure you noticed from our earlier incident, we have some issues and we need more people here to protect the Queen.”

  “Your wish is my command, Your Highness.”

  He turned immediately and headed up to the poop deck. Daell quickly walked up the two levels of stairs and stood atop of the poop deck next to the wheel, where Kroptugir stood. Kroptugir began calling out commands to the new crew. Daell glanced down at the men running across the ship and saw that somehow Kroptugir had recruited many Jordlings as part of his crew. While they were not as fast as the Vatune who once staffed the vessel, they moved effectively enough to get the ship underway.

  Viga stood next to Daell and stated, “Your Highness I feel that sad times are ahead of us.”

  Daell felt he had no choice but to agree with him. He hoped they could avoid it, but he sensed that war might be on the horizon. He knew they had a long trip to Heimili so he headed to the quarters that were reserved for him. Daell lay down on the bed and attempted to sleep.

  * * * * *

  He was able to sleep some, but most of the remaining night was spent tossing and turning within the bed. The next morning he could see the light peeking through one of the port holes in the room. He rose from the bed and stretched. He was still very much tired from the limited sleep he got. As soon as he finished getting dressed there was a knock on the door. He walked over to the door and opened it. It was a Jordling man with a tray of food, the morning meal.

  He bowed deeply and stated, “Good morning Your Highness, I have brought your meal.”

  “Bring it in friend.” Daell told him.

  The man nodded and slowly brought the tray to the table that was bolted in the center of the room, Daell sensed that the man was very nervous. Daell took a look at him and saw that he was several harvests younger than Daell with short black hair, brown eyes and the brown skin of all of their kind. He wore a simple green tunic and brown trousers. His boots appeared to be made of some kind of hide. As he sent the tray down on the table he began to turn to leave.

  Daell told him, “Come friend and sit with me as I eat.”

  The man appeared confused by the request but he said, “Yes Your Highness.”

  Daell took a seat and the man followed suit.

  Daell asked the man, “What is your name friend?”

  “My name is Venja Batisson Your Highness.”

  Daell nodded as he took a bite of his food.

  He extended his right forearm to the man and said, “Call me Daell friend, that royalty stuff is for the public, not for our private conversation.”

  The man took his forearm cautiously and replied, “As you wish, Daell.”

  He said Daell’s name with hesitation. Daell could not help but laugh. He had become the King and now people who would have treated him like a normal person were now cautious around him. He released his grip on the man’s forearm and took another bite of his food.

  Between chews Daell asked, “How did you end up on the Gjalfur Venja?”

  Venja began to relax a little bit as Daell asked his question.

  “I was working in the village and they made a call for people to assist the Queen by serving aboard. I head that there was an issue and someone tried to hurt the Queen. I knew that I immediately had to do something to help her.”

  Daell was touched by his words. One of his own people, who clearly barely knew his wife, had immediately left his home to help in any way he could.

  Venja then asked, “Is it true? Was the Queen attacked?”

  “Yes Venja, Vindiri assassins attempted to kill her when we were on the road back to Heimili.”

  Daell could see the concern on his face.

  He looked as though he had more questions so Daell told him, “Friend, ask your questions.”

  “Why? Why would they try to harm the Queen? She has only been on the throne for a handful of cycles and I myself have already seen improvements since her reign began.”

  “Venja we do not know. She has made no real changes that would have affected either Kunnadi or Hellir in a bad way, and yet they both have betrayed Heima.”

  The man nodded before he then asked, “Maybe they are mad about having a Jordling as King?”

  Daell was stunned by the idea. Could it be that the whole issue was because Skyansam and Gildura had lost the Kostir to him? It seemed outrageous to think a war could start over such a thing. Anderskoti was probably just as mad as either of them and yet he did not break Heima apart. Daell shook his head slowly.

  “I could not believe that the people of each of these cities would do such a thing over the Kostir Venja.”

  Venja nodded at him before asking, “Daell I may be excused? I have other tasks I must attend to.”

  “Of course friend, duty always comes first. It was a pleasure to talk with you.”

  Venja rose from the chair he was sitting in and bowed.

  “Your Highness, I do not know what your plans are to resolve this issue, but I pray to Modira that you succeed and Heima is again restored.”

  “Thank you Venja.”

  As the man left, Daell thought that he too hoped dearly that he would succeed. He finished his meal and left the quarters. As soon as he arrived at the poop deck, he was greeted by Kroptugir and Viga.

  Kroptugir immediately announced, “Your Highness I believe we might have an issue.”

  Daell glanced at him curiously and asked, “What would that be Captain?”

  “We should be arriving to Heimili before the mid-turn meal; however three unknown ships have been spotted off our vinstri side.”

  Daell was unsure what he meant so he asked, “Vinistri?”

  Kroptugir nodded and pointed off to their left.

  “Aye this way Your Highness.”

  Daell looked to the left and he could indeed see three ships moving towards them.

  Kroptugir evenly said, “Your Highness they shall reach us before we can make it to Heimili. Even with our superior Aldarnari warriors, they will board us and overwhelm us with numbers.”

  Daell nodded at him. This was a serious issue. They could not allow their mission to fail so early. Daell glanced at Viga, who shrugged towards him. How could they possibly keep these Vatune sailors from boarding? Daell already knew that his powers would be of no use here on the sea. The earth was just too far below for him to call it to him. Even the pulsing he felt on land had left him since Daell boarded the ship. Daell pondered their situation as the three ships slowly continued to close the distance. Then it struck him! He remembered his wife summoning a ball of earth. She had told him that she could summon a ball of any of the elements. If she could summon a ball of flame, why could not the Aldarnari do so?

  He turned to Viga and asked, “I have seen you ignite your sword in flame. Is it possible to do other things with flame?”

  Viga nodded uncertainly as he answered, “Yes.”

  “Could you summon forth balls of fire?”

  Viga must have deduced Daell’s plan because he excitedly answered, “Yes! Yes I could, as could every other Aldarnari on this ship.”

  Daell grinned. Viga immediate raced off the poop deck towards the main deck below, Daell ran after him.

  Onc
e they were both there Viga yelled out, “Men! We shall defeat our foes before they reach us.”

  Viga extended his right arm with his open palm facing towards the sky. As if out of nowhere, a ball of flame appeared floating slightly above his hand. It almost looked like a heavy flaming rock.

  “We shall summon forth fire and burn our foes ships from underneath of them. As they begin to close on us, begin summoning balls of flame as fast as you can, even before they are in range. Their reaction to flaming balls should cause them to either retreat or pause. If any of their ships board us, we shall fight the traitorous scum with our blades. An Aldarnari warrior is worth twenty Vatune cowards!”

  He bellowed the last bit out so loudly that Daell’s ears rattled. The entire ship’s crew reacted with vigor. Viga’s plan worked brilliantly, the Vatune must have never expected a wall of flaming balls being thrown at their ships. There must have been around thirty Aldarnari on the ship, each calling for flaming balls and throwing them with excitement in the direction of the three enemy ships. One of the ships attempted to veer away from the balls of flame. As it shifted away, it moved into a collision course with the middle ship, which forced that ship to alter its course. The captain of the third ship must have seen the other two ships moving course so he adjusted his course too. The distraction was enough to provide Gjalfur’s massive sails the advantage with the winds and the lead towards Heimili. Aldarnari warriors soon ran to the top of the poop deck and began casting the balls of flame as the three ships initially began to pursue. Soon they broke off their course as they realized that they would not catch the Gjalfur before it made port in Heimili. Daell was relieved because this must mean that Heimili had remained loyal to the Queen. Eventually they made port.

  As Daell and Viga began to exit Kroptugir asked, “Your Highness does your last orders for this ship still stand?”

  Daell had known he was asking due to the incident.

  “No Captain, I believe you should await the setting of the sun so you can make it back to Bygod under the safety of darkness. Also fill your ship heavily with Aldarnari warriors. If they do spot you, they will then be in for a very rude surprise.”