Garth entered the campsite and laid therabbits down for Niki to clean and prepare. Fredrik and Tedi werebattling with their staffs at a furious rate. Garth watched themfor a moment as they twirled, jabbed, and smacked with their long,wooden poles. Tedi was definitely the better of the two, but thatdid little to lessen Garth’s respect of Fredrik’s ability. Bothboys handled the staff with confidence and skill.
Garth gazed over to the area where Arikand Tanya had been practicing swordplay. Kalina and Tanya werehovering over Arik who was sitting on the ground. Garth hurriedover when he saw the large red smear on Arik’s chest, fearing thatTanya had seriously injured the boy. Garth bent down and wasrelieved to see that there was no serious cut to Arik’schest.
“What is it?” Garthinquired.
“I’m not sure,” Kalinaanswered. “It appears to be some kind of rash, but nothing that Ihave ever seen before.”
“When he removed his shirt,”Tanya interjected, “I was afraid that I had woundedhim.”
“Ha,” chuckled Arik, “there issmall chance of that. It started bothering me the first night wewere in Tagaret. It has grown steadily bigger and more irritatingsince then.”
“We have tried all the creamsand ointments that I can think of,” Kalina supplied. “Niki evengave a try with her healing ability. She has been pouring over thebooks I got her in Melbin and showed me some interestingspells.”
Garth cocked an eyebrow at the thoughtof Kalina learning anything from Niki, but soon realized thatKalina spoke the truth. The girl had some type of ability withhealth magic that was hard for Kalina to grasp. As with mostthings, magic was easier to learn from somebody who knew how to dosomething than it was to learn from a book.
“Well,” Garth summarized, “ifwe can’t do anything about this rash, we should stop wasting timeexamining it. You two should get back to practice before I get mywooden sword out.”
“Whenever you are ready,Garth,” Tanya quipped.
Garth ignored the taunt and walked withKalina back to the campfire. Arik stood and picked up his practicesword. “You shouldn’t tease Garth that way,” Arik cautioned. “He isprobably the greatest warrior that has ever lived. What if he tookyou up on your taunt? You would be sore for a week.”
“Garth is not the greatestwarrior who ever lived,” corrected Tanya. “Oh, he was definitely aTarga Ranger, I’m sure, and that makes him a great warrior, but youforget about Alexander Tork. He created and trained the Rangers. Heis undoubtedly the greatest warrior of all time.”
“Maybe where you come from,”Arik stubbornly stated, “but I never heard of this Tork before thistrip. So, he created the Targa Rangers. Garth has started the AlceaRangers.”
“It does not matter where onecomes from,” Tanya insisted. “Alex Tork is a legend. I have heardstories from all over this continent about Alex. Targa created twonew armies for him to command as he saw fit, the Frontier Divisionand the Rangers. They reported to no one except Alex, not even theKing of Targa. One time he was falsely accused of killing the Kingof Targa and his men stood with him to the man and helped him provethe accusation false. The Sultan of Sordoa was placed in power byTork after the man witnessed Alex behead the old Sultan who haddeclared war on Targa. And that was in the Sultan’s Palacesurrounded by thousands of Sordoan soldiers.”
“Well,” Arik argued, “Garth isnot old yet. He may accomplish much more before hequits.”
“Old?” Tanya laughed. “Theseare tales about Tork when he wasn’t much older than you. He had hisfirst battle when he was fifteen and put in charge of his villagewhen the Yaki attacked. He led the village to the other side of theBoulder Mountains to relocate.”
“Why are you so wrapped up inthis Alexander Tork?” Arik demanded. “If he is so good, then why isit left to Garth to save the world by protecting and training us?Maybe your Alex Tork wasn’t up to the job.”
“I am not wrapped up in him,”snarled Tanya. “I just believe in putting things in their properprospective. Alex hasn’t been seen since the Collapse. He andJenneva surely died then or the Dark One found them and eliminatedthem. Uncle Boris said that every Black Devil had been ordered tohunt for them because they had imprisoned the Dark One. Oh, what isthe use in trying to educate a fisherboy? Let’s practice beforeGarth does take me up on my challenge.”
Arik shook his head and raised hiswooden sword to meet Tanya’s attack. He still didn’t understandwomen. He got along with Tanya because she acted less like a womenthan any girl he had met, but every so often she went and didsomething that made absolutely no sense at all.
By the time Arik and Tanya completedtheir practice, Arik was tired. Tanya went to help with the dinnerand Arik walked over to join Fredrik and Tedi who were gettinglessons from Garth on knife fighting. Garth invited him into thelesson, but Arik just sat down and shook his head. He watched Garthinstruct the other two boys and was amazed at the man’s speed andadaptability to any situation. It was hard for Arik to comprehendanyone who could be better than Garth. Arik waited until the lessonwas over to approach Garth.
“Garth,” Arik opened, “what doyou now about Alexander Tork?”
Garth looked at him for a moment andthen swung his gaze towards Tanya. Eventually, he sat down next toArik and the other boys joined them. “I know a great deal aboutAlexander Tork,” Garth began. “He created, trained and led theRangers up to the time of his marriage to Jenneva. I used to be aTarga Ranger. The techniques that I use in fighting are histechniques. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it is just that somepeople have such a great deal of admiration for him and I’ve neverheard of him,” Arik answered.
Garth smiled and nodded his head.“Tanya mercilessly bombarded me with questions about him,” Garthsaid. “I imagine that she heard stories about him from her uncleand was disturbed with the way I downplayed Tork’s accomplishments.She has seemed to be pretty angry with me ever since.”
“Why would you belittle Tork’saccomplishments?” Arik asked. “Are the stories about himuntrue?”
Garth picked up a pebble and beganrolling it over in his hand. “Most of them are true,” Garthexplained. “Alexander Tork never meant to be a hero. He always didwhat he thought had to be done because there wasn’t anybody elsewho would or could do it. He was not the type of man who didsomething and then turned to others with a smile on his face andboasted about what he had done. That would be totally out ofcharacter for the man and I would not be kind to him to do what hehimself would not do. He was a good fighter and he used his skillsto right what wrongs he could.”
“Was he more skilled thanyou?” Arik asked.
“I would never draw acomparison between myself and Alexander Tork,” declared Garth. “Ido not claim to be better than he was and I do not wish others todo it for me. What we do is not a competition, Arik. Each of usshould use whatever skills we have to defeat the Dark One. IfAlexander Tork were here today, he would be telling you the exactsame thing. Forget about Tork. Forget about me. You have to spendwhatever time you have to sharpen your skills and think about theconsequences of what we have started. We have no idle time forwondering about a man who hasn’t been seen in seventeenyears.”
“What is so wrong about havinga hero to emulate?” asked Tanya who had come up behind the boyswithout anyone noticing.
“Alexander Tork may have beena hero to you, Tanya,” Garth sighed, “but he was not a hero tohimself.”
Garth rose as Tanya pushed onward.“Well, he should have been,” she declared. “He did more for theworld than any ten other men and you seem to think he wasnothing.”
“Yes,” sighed Garth bitterly.“He did wonders for the world. He saved the world from the sun.Don’t you love his parting gift? A world without sunshine, withoutsafe roads to travel, without farms that are free of bandits. Heleft a world where people can only cower in the cities and hope thetyrant rulers don’t order them hung.”
Tanya slapped Garth so hard that hishead spun and his face sported bright red marks from her fingers.“How dare you talk that way about
a great man,” Tanya spat.“Alexander Tork gave everything he had to try and save the worldfrom all of this.”
“Yes, he did,” agreed Garthwith hatred in his voice. “He was so wonderful that he must havesaved the world a dozen times over. He was so wrapped up in savingthe world that he gave his only child to the Black Devils forslaughter. You want to worship a hero, Tanya? Worship the man whodidn’t have time to save his own child.”
Garth stormed off before Tanya had timeto deliver another blow. Tedi jumped up and grabbed Tanya beforeshe took off after Garth. He held her tight until her body stoppedquivering.
“What was that all about?”asked Fredrik. “I never heard those stories about Tork.”
“They are all lies,” screamedTanya. “Filthy lies spewed by a coward who can’t stand beingcompared to a real man.”
Kalina approached the practice area andstood firmly in front of Tanya.
“Dinner is ready,” sheannounced. “Why don’t you boys go eat while Tanya and I have alittle talk?”
The boys quickly scampered away, moreto avoid the coming confrontation than their need for food. Tanyatried to go with them, but Kalina grabbed her arm. Tanya easilybroke Kalina's grasp, but she stayed to talk.
“Why didn’t you use any ofyour fancy magic to make me stay?” Tanya demanded.
“I don’t use magic to hurtfriends,” Kalina replied. “You misunderstand Garth and you hurt himdeeply.”
“I hurt him?” Tanya saidincredulously. “You expect me stand there and listen to him trashAlexander Tork and you blame me for hurting him?”
“You never knew AlexanderTork,” Kalina persisted. “We did. I personally agree with yourdescription of Alex, not Garth’s, but that is part of the problem.Garth has heard so many tales about the greatness of Alexander Torkand the Targa Rangers that one would think that everything in theworld is wonderful. Garth is torn up inside about his own inabilityto make the world a better place and disgusted with what the worldhas become. He was a Ranger, too. He shared Alex’s vision of abetter world and he has spent the past seventeen years listening tothese wondrous tales while watching the world fall apart. Add tothat the fact that I have always adored Alexander Tork and hiswonderful accomplishments and it is easy to see why Garth doesn’twant to hear any more about it.”
“Well, why did he have to saythose nasty things about Alex abandoning his own child?” criedTanya.
“He is just echoing Alex’s ownfeelings,” Kalina answered. “Alex Tork’s child was abducted byBlack Devils while Alex was running around the world trying to savethe Prophecy babies. Alex never forgave himself for that and becamea very bitter man. Do not take Garth’s statements literally. EveryRanger idolized Alexander Tork and would have laid their lives onthe line for him. Garth would have done the same as Alex in thesituation that existed at that time. That should help youunderstand his bitterness. That anger will fade when Alcea rises.Until then, please don’t push your views of Alex on Garth. I havelearned not to and I think you are a stronger woman thanI.”
Tanya nodded and wiped her tears asKalina escorted her to the campfire. The boys looked up sheepishlyas they approached and their conversation stopped. Kalina dishedsome rabbit stew onto a plate for Tanya and then helped herself.Nobody said anything about Garth’s absence over dinner, but theusual quiet time after dinner when Garth would light his pipe andtalk to the Rangers was missed. Instead the Rangers went back topractice and Tanya worked off her fury and hurt.
After practice when everybody was tiredand drawn they turned in and went to sleep. Only Kalina stayed upand stared into the forest. When Arik woke in the morning, Kalinawas still sitting there and still staring into theforest.
Chapter 22
Sagina
The smell of breakfast cooking arousedthe rest of the Alcea Rangers and one by one they rose and begantheir morning exercises. Kalina finally stopped staring into theforest and relieved Arik of the cooking duties so he could join theexercises. Nobody spoke about Garth or the confrontation theprevious evening. Kalina served breakfast and left the cleanup tothe others. She wrapped up her gear and secured it on her whitemare and Garth’s black stallion. When she was finished, Garth’shorse turned and walked into the forest.
“Ten minutes,” Kalina called.“Everybody secure your belongings and make ready for thetrail.”
Tanya started to say something andeveryone stopped and stared at her. Flushing, she bent back to thetask at hand and left her thoughts hidden. Quietly the Rangersmounted their horses and Arik led the group along the trail. Themidday meal was eaten while riding and Tedi took the lead and Tanyathe tail of the procession. Tedi still detected the elves trackingthem, but he said nothing. In fact, nobody spoke. The Rangers rodeon in silence until the darkness came upon them.
They set up the campsite as efficientlyas always, but there was a gloom that hung over the campsite thathad nothing to do with Sarac’s darkness. The Rangers practiced asalways, but Tanya felt as if the blows directed towards her wereslightly more deliberate than during normal practice sessions. TheRangers broke for dinner and ate quietly. After dinner, the timewhen Garth would light his pipe and talk for half an hour, Tanyatried to apologize to the rest of the Rangers, but they walked tothe practice areas and began honing their skills insilence.
Kalina approached Tanya who wasthrowing Lanoirian Stars with more anger than skill. “Tanya, do notblame yourself for Garth’s actions,” soothed Kalina. “It is notyour fault.”
Tanya turned and snapped at Kalina.“It’s not my fault?” she ridiculed. “How can you, of all people,say that? Everyone here knows that it is my fault. I have tauntedand needled Garth until he ran off and abandoned us. Everyone knowsit is my fault. I will be lucky to live through the next practicesession. How can you even look at me with sympathy?”
Kalina wrapped her arms around Tanyaand hugged her. “I, of all people, know Garth,” she stated. “Thewords you spoke were true, too true. Sometimes the truth hurts andpeople have a hard time accepting that. Garth is slow to anger andeven slower to cool off. He is not gone from us, but he is hurtingdeeply. He needs to work the hurt and anger off in solitude. It isthe only way that works for him. He will come back when he isbetter able to accept your feelings for Alexander Tork. In themeantime, he is quite capable of handling himself alone in thewoods.”
“If he is so capable,” Tanyasobbed, “why do you spend all of your time staring off into thewoods for him?”
Kalina turned and gazed at the endlesstrees surrounding them. “He will not suffer at the hands of apredator out there,” Kalina declared. “My fear is for the enemywithin himself. He pushes himself to the limit for others and evenbeyond. When that is not enough to help the others, he blameshimself. He does not consider it heroic when he succeeds. When youidolize Alexander Tork as a hero, he thinks to himself that thereare no heroes. He has seen thousands of good men die trying to helpothers and, in his mind, they are the only heroes and even they arefailures because they are no longer around to help people. Youshould not feel sorry for Garth nor should you feel anger for hisbeliefs. He believes in them deeply, as you do inyours.”
Tanya picked up her Lanoirian Stars asKalina left to sit near the fire. Tanya renewed her practice, butthis time with more skill than anger. Eventually, the Rangersfinished practice and drifted off to sleep. Tanya closed her eyeson the figure of Kalina still sitting and gazing into theforest.
Tanya awoke with a stabbing in her ribsand the smell of breakfast in her nostrils. She looked up to seeFredrik poking her with his staff. Biting back a sharp remark, shefollowed Fredrik’s gaze and saw Garth cooking breakfast. Hurriedly,she got to her feet and headed towards Garth. Fredrik and Tedi wereawakening the rest of the Rangers as she approached the campfire.When she got close to Garth, she started to speak and Garth lookedup at her and held his hand up to halt her words.
“I must apologize to you,”Garth said loudly. “To all of you. You are young enough yet to knowgreat optimism and enthusiasm. It is wrong for me, in any way, todampen that bri
ght outlook you hold on life. I can warn you of thepitfalls which you will face on your journey towards death, but theattitudes you carry with you on that journey are yours, and yoursalone.”
Tanya started to say something andGarth halted her again. “To you, pretty warrior, I owe an extraapology,” Garth smiled. “You are right to seek a person who youthink represents the ideals you would wish for yourself and I waswrong to water the fire of your search for excellence. My views maydiffer from your own, but I will no longer attempt to lessen yourideals. Please forgive me.”
Tanya did not try to speak, but threwher arms around Garth and hugged him. An embarrassed smile cloudedGarth’s face as he returned the young warriors hug. After a fewmoments, he broke the embrace and laughed.
“Now for the fine breakfast Inegotiated out of a Klandon farmer,” he chuckled. “Fresh eggs andbacon with bread and a pitcher of cow’s milk.”
The campsite turned festive as theRangers devoured the breakfast. Kalina stood behind Garth andplaced her hands on his broad shoulders and smiled. Within twentyminutes the breakfast was eaten, the campsite cleaned up, and theRangers were back on the trail.
The days that followed were free oftension within the group. Tanya still showered the other Rangerswith tales of Alex and Jenneva, but Garth did not object, he merelywalked away from the talk and performed other duties that requiredattention.
As they approached the BoulderMountains, Garth began to hear the Rangers speak of Lavinda, thesettlement Alexander Tork led his villagers to when he was a boy.The villagers had named it Lavinda in honor of Alexander’s motherwho died during the trip in a misfortunate accident. Tork hadtaught the villagers to think in terms of defense and the villagewas designed to repel attacks. The design saved the village fromthe Yaki, goblins, and bandits. The village had become famous andthe term “Lavindan” was used to describe someone who was wary anddefensive and usually sat with his back to the wall and an eye onthe door.
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