by Joe Jackson
Kari had far too much time to think while sailing south along the coast. She had taken Eli and Danilynn along with Se’sasha, as they wanted to see their dealings with Se’ceria brought to a meaningful close. Grakin and Little Gray accompanied them as well: the trip to Gavean and Captain Machall’s farmland would be safe enough, and even the travels toward the hidden valley would be safe, at least until they reached the city of Atrice. Kari didn’t want to leave her mate and son behind yet again, and so she brought them along. Aeligos, Typhonix, and Sonja rounded out their group, while Erik stayed behind in DarkWind to keep an eye on Se’sasha’s people, and Serenjols remained home with his girlfriend.
Kari wanted to bring Shefter, but the elf booked passage on a ship back to Terrassia. He had shared a short but heartfelt farewell with Kari, and promised her that he would find some way to repay her rescue. First, though, he had to go and let his Queen know that he was alive, and get formal permission to pledge his services to Kari and her Order. As a member of the Arborean Guard, there was no guarantee the Queen would heed his wishes, but he told Kari he’d let her know either way.
The trip along the coast itself was fairly quick and quite safe: the eastern coast of Askies was heavily patrolled by the Royal Navy, which dealt with pirates and raiders mercilessly. As the sunny, windy, salty days passed, Kari spent most of her time with her son, watching the scenery go by, and explaining to him over and over when his sibling would arrive. Having his incessant questions thrown at her helped to keep her mind from thinking about Koursturaux too much, or what the demon king was truly up to. It was a welcome distraction: Kari did not want to spend her entire pregnancy stressed out over the machinations of a demon king. It also served to keep Kari from paying too much attention to the trepidation of the crew, who were not exactly happy about having a syrinthian priestess on their ship.
After several days, the ship arrived in the city of Port Kristofer, a harbor city that served as a go-between for ocean-faring vessels and the riverboats that would run supplies and trade inland to Lakeshore and Gnarr. The wide river ran for miles and miles to Lake Fletcher, which was more like an inland freshwater sea. The entire area was named after the deity known as The Ghost: Port Kristofer, Lake Fletcher, and Saint’s River. Gnarr, the home city of the Duke of Sutherland and also of the Avenger Order, was close to the northwest shore of Lake Fletcher, and the farming and fishing community of Lakeshore was on the southern edge. Neither of those was Kari’s destination, but she and her friends would pass through Lakeshore, which was the closer of the two, on the way toward Gavean.
Gavean was a hub town among the farmlands to the south of the great lake, between the cities of Gnarr and Lajere. The Heartlands, as they were called, were farmland nearly from the Great Divide – a pair of rivers that nearly cut the continent in two – all the way to the southern coast. The great swamp of the czarikk near Mandar-Czar, the Sandur Jungle and Barrier Mountains on the west side, and the Crystal Mountains that surrounded the terra-bengal kingdom of Jirtorex kept the farmland from encompassing the whole southern half of Askies. Kari wasn’t sure if Gavean fell under the rule of her friend, the Earl of Lajere, or whether it was part of the Duke’s home county. She knew only that it was a prosperous little town, and that her friend and former subordinate, Captain Lawrence Machall, owned a farm – orchards, if she remembered right – on the western side.
Port Kristofer was a trade harbor, but it was also a fishing port and its piers were lined with fishing ships returned from their day’s work when Kari’s own ship pulled into port. Little Gray was having fun saying pew or ewww every so often when the strong smells of fish blew past on the breeze, and the sailors of The Majestic Run chuckled every time he did so. Kari was more used to the many varied smells of cities on the coasts, from tanneries to fisheries to the sewage and garbage facilities, and none of it really fazed her anymore. Her son, however, spent all of his time at home or in the temple of Kaelariel, and had a much more discerning sniffer.
Once The Majestic Run docked and Kari and her friends were allowed to disembark, they found a comfortable inn farther into the city and arranged lodgings for the night. Kari asked for a double-occupancy room and arranged for Se’sasha to stay with her and Grakin, so she could keep an eye on the syrinthian priestess. The room was crowded with the couple, their son, and the priestess, but it wasn’t a terrible situation, and the night passed quietly for the most part. Little Gray tried to ask Se’sasha a bevy of questions, but Se’sasha didn’t understand the rir tongue, and Kari hadn’t brought Liria along for translations. Little Gray was disappointed, but was easily distracted by games and play.
Aeligos was waiting for everyone to come out of the inn the next morning and proudly showed off what he had spent the wee hours doing. He had purchased several fine riding horses as well as a carriage with a draft team. Kari was surprised to see him spend so much money on what was going to be a one-way trip. She knew he had quite a bit of wealth squirreled away that he’d “acquired” during his espionage and infiltration runs during the Apocalypse, but it had to have cost him a fair amount of coin to get so many horses and a carriage on short notice. When she expressed her concerns to him, he waved them off, merely saying that he was sure he could get back at least three-quarters of what he’d paid when he sold them off in Gavean. Knowing her sly brother-in-law, Kari didn’t doubt that for a minute.
The trip proved to be much longer than Kari had anticipated, and unfortunately, Sonja said she couldn’t use her arcane power to transport the group to anyplace she hadn’t already been before. A couple of weeks passed before they came within sight of Gavean, and Kari realized she had missed the Summer’s Ball to which the Earl of Lajere had invited her and her friends. It was a shame: Kari had been looking forward to attending an entertainment function, and she’d also wanted to see if any relationship had developed between Sharyn and Sherman. While Kari was still a little upset with the werewolf woman for killing Turillia, she found in her heart that Sharyn was, at her core, a good woman, and a fine possible match for Sherman. She realized she’d have to send an apology to her friend for her forgetful rudeness.
Gavean was a one-road town with not much aside from the basic amenities: a general goods store, a larder, a tack and feed shop, a blacksmith, an inn and tavern, and a barber shop. Kari assumed one or more of the places doubled as other service-providers such as a postal stop and perhaps a doctor or other healer. The sun was still well over the horizon when the group arrived in Gavean, so Kari led them on through the town and out to the west. Little Gray pointed at everything excitedly as they passed through the town, and the farmers and other workers on the streets waved politely to the strange band riding through. Like most farming towns, Gavean was predominantly a human settlement, but there seemed to be little hostility or distrust even in light of the many sets of wings on the riders passing through – not to mention the presence of a snake-woman.
They turned west out of the town and, just as Kari had imagined, the wide and well-used road led through orchards. Apple and cherry trees seemed to be the dominant fixtures, and the workers looked up and waved to the travelers every so often. Pale skin was predominant in the southlands, but some of the workers were of the darker varieties of human as well. As Kari and her friends passed further and further along, Kari got the feeling that Captain Machall’s farm was even larger and more profitable than the land she had inherited.
It took some time before they found the road that led to the farmhouse tucked among the orchards, and Kari wasn’t even sure how many miles of rows of trees they had passed before they did. It warmed her heart: like so many others, her friend had risked everything to join the army during the Great War, and he hadn’t even had the opportunity to defend his home, having been assigned to a company on the far side of the continent. Kari was glad that his home and his prosperity had not only survived, but thrived.
A couple of younger hands ran to the farmhouse when the band of winged strangers turned up the road toward it.
By the time Kari and her friends reached the house, Captain Machall and his family had emerged to watch the arrivals. Even before Kari stopped her horse mere yards from the landowner and dismounted, he was laughing heartily and gesturing for his family and employees to be at ease. Once Kari dismounted and set Little Gray down safely, Captain Machall approached.
Lawrence looked much like Kari remembered him. His skin was a light brown but he had green eyes, which seemed to be uncommon among humans of his skin tone. His hair was shaved down short with a bald spot on the top that suggested he wore hats – or helmets – far too often. His face was wide and cheery, almost set into a permanent smile, something Kari recalled him having to work to “correct” when acting as a captain under her. His features were accented by a short but well-tended beard and mustache that framed his face nicely, and made his smile seem so much more fluid and friendly.
“Colonel!” he said formally, snapping Kari a military salute when they stood almost face to face.
“Oh, knock that off,” Kari returned. She reached for a hug and the human embraced her tightly, patting her back. When they split apart, Kari laid her hand on his shoulder and met his eyes evenly. “You look great. It’s so good to see you again.”
“I look great?” Lawrence echoed. “Sweet Jesus, Kari, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you looked younger than the last time I saw you.” He turned and beckoned the woman and two young men on the front porch to come down. “This is my wife Gwerine, and these are my sons, Darius and Jamal.”
“So this is the woman you never shut up about?” his wife asked teasingly. Gwerine looked one part warrior woman, one part lady of the house, one part no-nonsense mother. She had fair features and long hair bunched into a tail. Her skin was of a lighter tone than her husband’s, but she had the dark eyes that were more common to their kin. Her smile looked almost out of place on her features, but it was warm and genuine nonetheless.
“Karian Vanador, Hand of Zalkar, by his grace,” Kari said, shaking the woman’s hand. She shook with Darius and Jamal as well when they came up and introduced themselves politely. They were in their late teens, and each looked like a combination of the best of their parents’ features. Kari hefted up Little Gray and sat him on her hip. “This is my son, Grakin junior.”
“Haha, you had a kid!” Lawrence exclaimed, and though Little Gray didn’t understand what was being said, he high-fived the captain without delay. “Who’s the lucky man?”
Grakin came forward and introduced himself. He was walking stiffly after being in the saddle for so long; he clearly wasn’t a rider, and Kari wasn’t sure if he’d ever been on a horse before this trip. He shook hands graciously with Lawrence, and Kari’s friend congratulated her mate on his “fine catch.” Grakin took the comment well in stride; Lawrence had a personality that was very open and honest, but that some people didn’t take to well. Sometimes being too forward and speaking his mind got under peoples’ skin. Kari figured that was their problem.
“Oh my God, is that…is that a syrinthian?” Lawrence asked when Se’sasha stepped down out of the carriage.
“Yes, but don’t be alarmed; she’s an ally,” Kari said, putting a hand back on her friend’s shoulder to keep him from getting worked up. “She’s a part of the reason I came to see you.”
“Well, let’s not all stand out on the walk gawking at each other,” Gwerine said after a minute. “Come on inside, rest your legs and have a drink. We can put you up for the night, but you’ll have to stay up in the hay loft in the barn. The house is a bit crowded these days with two teenaged boys.”
Kari chuckled. The rest of her companions came forward and she introduced everyone by name to her friend. Se’sasha was the last to come forward, and Kari introduced her by her full name. Lawrence didn’t seem intent on shaking hands or hugging the priestess, but he soon declared that if Kari trusted her, he would too. He gestured for Kari and her friends to follow and led them all inside.
The inside was cramped but efficient, and Kari could tell even from the ground floor that there would be little room upstairs for visitors. Every chair and stool and crate in the immediate area was brought around the supper table so everyone could have a seat. Kari sat beside Grakin with their son on her lap, and across from her sat Gwerine with Lawrence standing beside her. Kari’s friends waited for her to start the conversation back up, but amusingly enough, it was Jamal who spoke first.
“Our dad says you killed fifteen demons single-handedly taking Atrice during the War,” he said. “Is that true? Dad says you were the best fighter they had in the whole brigade, even better than the Warlord himself.”
Knowing smiles sprouted on all the faces around the table, and Kari chuckled. “I’m not really sure,” she answered. “I was busy fighting while your father was keeping a tally of how many things I killed, I guess.” Lawrence stood up straight and folded his arms across his chest, which only made everyone laugh. “I’m kidding. Your father was the best captain I had under my command. With him and his men following me, we were able to hold off what seemed like an entire battalion of the serilis-rir as a diversion at the south road.”
“Serilis-rir, right,” Lawrence said. “Guess we don’t call them demons anymore. So, not that I’m not happy to see you again, my friend, but what brings you down this way? You say it has something to do with this snake-girl?”
Se’sasha gave the captain a strange look. Kari wondered if the priestess had understood the words snake-girl even across the language barrier. Kari said, “As part of the plan that set her free, I promised that sword you’re holding to someone. That’s what I had to come here for. I hope you still have it.”
Lawrence nodded and patted Darius on the shoulder. “Go get that forbidden sword out of the cellar, will you? The one I always tell you boys not to touch.” He turned back to Kari once his son ran downstairs to do as he was told. “I’ve kept it hidden just like you asked. Never even let my boys take it out of the scabbard I got for it. Always seemed a bit of a shame to let such a fine weapon go to waste, but…”
“But you don’t want to wield the sword that killed some of our friends and heroes,” Kari finished with a nod. She could see her companions were interested to know what she was talking about, but she and Lawrence kept quiet until Darius returned with the scabbarded katana. Once she held it in her hands, Kari slid it out of the scabbard just enough to see the marking at the base of the blade, near the crossbar. It was the same marking her own swords carried: the symbol that marked it as a weapon crafted by Terx, the harmauth smith who served the celestials.
“So that’s one of Taesenus’ swords,” Aeligos commented, and the mood around the table grew much more somber at those words. It was clear from the many faces that not one person there – with the exception of Se’sasha, of course – was ignorant to the significance of the name or the weapon. Dozens of heroes and champions of the Light Forces during the Apocalypse had been killed and decapitated by the sword Kari now held in her hands. Even the death of its owner didn’t soften the weight of the blow that such knowledge brought.
Kari nodded. “I took it from his lifeless arm after I cut it off of him in battle,” she said. She sat back with a sigh and bounced Little Gray on her thigh so he wouldn’t get antsy over a conversation he couldn’t understand. “By the time he came after me, he’d already killed so many of our champions and heroes: Torrie Cantabler, Ellen Morrigan, Avatar Jason Bosimar, Troy Terkani, William Wagner…the list goes on and on. All told, I think he was said to have killed over a hundred champions in single combat. You have to figure this sword is responsible for a lot of that.”
“How did you beat him?” Eli asked. “I’d heard he was nearly unbeatable in combat, and that only Kaelariel had finally bested him near the War’s end.”
Kari shrugged. “Suler Tumureldi was a very particular teacher. His first rule of combat was simple: ‘defense prevents defeat; if you cannot be defeated, there can be only one outcome.’ Taesenus was a phenomenal swordsman, but ev
en though he was vicious, he was predictable. He enjoyed cutting off peoples’ heads in combat, not after, so I knew what to expect from him when he came after me. So I toyed with him…the man had a temper like you wouldn’t believe. After heckling him for several minutes, he got reckless, and I cut his arm off with a fairly simple riposte. People always expect that I’m going to describe this fantastic fight with lunges and jumping swings and whatever else. It wasn’t like that. We were both consummate professionals when it came to swordplay, and our duel was fairly neat and clean. He made a mistake, and I took advantage of that and sent him fleeing. That’s all.”
“I can’t believe you just used consummate in a sentence,” Ty joked, and though it drew annoyed glances from Sonja and Aeligos, Kari started laughing.
“I guess I did,” she said. “And judging by your look, I guess I even used it right.”
“Did you kill Sekassus’ son in similar fashion?” Eli asked. Lawrence and his family looked at the half-corlyps curiously for a few moments, but then his words made them turn their attention back to Kari.
“More or less,” Kari said with another shrug. “He had a worse temper than Taesenus did. Every time I attacked him, I was really just baiting him into attacking me and, hopefully, making a mistake. I had to toy with him and make sure he knew it. The more frustrated you get in battle, the dumber you get. You remember that well, don’t you, Lawrence?”
Lawrence nodded. “That’s why the Warlord was such a successful leader: he always kept a level head, even when our brigade was ambushed, cut off, outnumbered, whatever the case may have been. If I may say so, he picked a great chain of command, and that’s what kept so many of us alive throughout the War.” Kari nodded. “So what’re you going to actually do with this sword now?”
