by Aaron Thomas
“No, I think it would be best to come closer before we let them know we are near.”
Joahna flapped his wings, “We will alert you if there anyone comes too close. The lights ahead of you are in their inn.”
“I thought you said it was a cabin?” Kilen stopped walking.
“Yes. Well, at a closer look it appears to be a cabin, inn, and stables. There are a lot of men building fences and there are even some wielders within the cabin structure using water magic.”
“Something is strange about this,” Kilen said, taking a drink from his water skin. He started to jog in the direction he was going.
Joahna took to the air once again and Max did his best to run on only two legs. Kilen wished he had taken time to stop during the trip to practice the sword. If he got in trouble he was stiff from not using the blade for so long. The blue ribbon atop the pommel wiggled in the wind as he ran forward.
Kilen kept his pace easily with the aid of his earth imbuements. He could have moved faster but that would involve jumping into the air. A man leaping into the air would certainly be cause for attention. Jace warned him twice about scouts or other persons in the grass that might take notice of him. Kilen stayed clear and was able to come within in distance for viewing the cabin with his own eyes.
The sun had fallen below the clouds and had started to cast shadows on the ground. Kilen could only see the silhouette of the cabin because of the sun setting behind it. When he looked around he saw various livestock starting to gather into groups for sleeping in the night. Some were being watched by men and others were already safely behind a fence.
Joahna flew by, “Follow the stream.”
Kilen jumped onto the stream’s bank about a knee length below the ground’s surface. His head and shoulders were the only thing that now showed above the grass. Doing as he was told, he bent over and followed the winding stream. He was trying to hold his head low to minimize his body showing above the height of the grass. He had practiced not being noticed in a city, but Bowie’s training for hunting was more handy here. He avoided any area around the water that looked soft and muddy to not make tracks. Kilen did his best to not step in the water and make noise splashing.
Keeping his eyes on his feet also meant not being able to keep track of his surroundings. Moving closer to the cabin was slow but well worth it. He would soon be able to walk up to Leroy’s cabin and get some information.
A cold wind blew across the back of his neck. He squatted and Tokeye became anxious. Kilen turned towards Max who had made himself smaller so he did not have to bend his form over. Max had also taken to smoothing over any track left by Kilen in the soft dirt.
Joahna darted past Kilen along the stream, turned and dove back to land in front of him. “Two men are approaching from behind. It looks like they are going in the direction you are. They’ll overtake you soon.”
“I’ll move quicker,” Kilen said, starting to ignore his surrounding and concentrate on moving faster.
Joahna became part of the stream and followed Kilen up the bank.
“It’s no use, there’s one ahead. There’s another coming at us directly from the cabin. They’ll all converge here, you must prepare yourself,” Joahna said.
Kilen reached out with the water magic and found a man approaching from the west side of the bank, the same side he was standing on. The other men had not come into his magic vision yet. As silently as he could, he slid his blade free of its sheath and faced the man approaching the stream. When the man noticed him, Kilen knew he would have to act fast to dispatch him as not to alert the others. The more he could take out in silence, the less of a fight he would have on his hands, and less the Earth Realm’s army would be alerted.
Waiting for the man’s head to appear over the grass seemed like it took forever. He was sure that time had slowed down. Tokeye’s emotions were not helping either. He hoped that he remembered enough of Jace’s training to complete the task swiftly and without it turning deadly.
In the failing darkness, Kilen squatted by the babbling stream hidden in the shadows of the grass and saw a familiar face peak over the grass.
“Sergeant Wells?” Kilen asked.
The sergeant of a fallen Water Realm ducked at his name being said by an unseen person. He whispered into the silence, “Yes, who are you?”
Kilen checked his water vision and still, no one was in his sight. “It’s me, Kilen Everheart the True Weapon Bearer.”
Wells stood and looked down towards the water. Kilen was unsure if he could see him or not but stayed put just incase the others would.
“You cannot be here.”
“They are coming, Sergeant. I need your help.”
Wells looked around and took the last few steps towards the water and finally saw Kilen squatting low at the water’s edge. Once he saw Kilen he moved quickly to crouch beside him. They looked at eachother eye to eye.
“Take off your cloak.”
Kilen did not hesitate in ripping his bright blue cloak from his shoulders and started stuffing it into a satchel.
“We need to get you muddy, like you have fallen.”
Without notice, Max thrust mudd on Kilen from head to toe on one side of his body. Wells looked at him confused, “Lay down there and do not move or speak.”
Covered with mud, Kilen laid down on top of the sword, keeping his hand gripping the hilt as hard as he could.
When he stopped moving Wells yelled out, “Help, help! A man needs help!”
Before long the three men came upon them and inquired what they could do. Kilen could see each of his friends poised and ready to attack if the need arise. He watched them moving using the elemental visions as they set themselves up for a quick assault.
“I don’t know what happened. Please, will one of you go and fetch Mistress Izabel? Perhaps she will know how to help him.”
Two of the soldiers ran off while their armor clanged as they left. Wells stood, “Do you think you can help me carry him? Wait. Go and find some thing we can use as a litter. Go… go.”
The man went to do as he was told and Wells watched him leave.
“Put that sword away. If they notice it they will search you further.”
The ground opened into a small hole and Kilen dropped his sword inside along with the package the Elders had given him. Max closed the earth around both pieces and Kilen slumped back onto the ground.
Before long there was a woman’s voice amongst the men’s. “You just found him lying there, Wells?” No verbal response came, “Is he bleeding?”
He watched with the water vision as Wells answered her questions with a shake of his head. Izabel smelled of lavender, as usual. He wondered if Leroy was more attracted to her scent or her cleavage.
Izabel pulled her skirt out before bending down to examine Kilen. She wiped the mud from the dirty side of his face and turned it so she could get a good look. Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. She stared at his face for a moment and placed a hand on his chest feeling him breathe, and how his heart was racing with nervousness. She leaned down close and for a moment, hovered above his face.
Turning her head, she whispered into his ear, “Let your body go limp.” She stood and stepped up off the bank of the stream. “Each of you grab a limb and bring him back to shop. I need to prepare some herbs. Mr. Wells, please go and fetch Master Bradley.”
Wells nodded and ran out into the darkness doing exactly as she said. The rest of the men helped in picking up Kilen. They carried him to the a cabin-like structure. It was made of wood that contained plants on every surface with a roof open to the sky. The building was much like Izabel’s shop in Deuterium, except the roof.
She began collecting herbs and crushing them. She pointed at various items for the others to collect. While the soldiers were producing their requested items, Izabel turned down the lantern to obscure Kilen’s face. She turned his head toward her while the others stood on the opposite side of the table. She looked over his hands and opened
his mouth.
Leroy walked into the room followed by Wells. “What’s wrong?” Leroy asked.
“He has ingested a bit of leather leaf root,” She said, lifting Kilen’s limp hand so that he could see it. Leroy didn’t look at the hand but rather Izabel’s face. Wells must have explained the situation because Leroy’s face gave nothing away.
“Yes, I see. I will need some room to work. Thank you all for helping him, we will take it from here.”
Slowly, the men filed out of the room and patted each other on the back for the good work they had done. None of the men stopped to wonder who Kilen was or if he would make it through the night. Wells followed them from the room.
“Wait. Not yet,” Izabel’s whispered command was as cool as she usually was under pressure.
Wells returned to the room and closed the door behind him.
“They’re returning to camp,” He said, moving to stand beside the table.
Kilen sat up as they all laughed quietly, bemused that Izabel’s plan had worked.
“Kilen, what are you doing here?” Leroy said intensely through the laughter.
“The Elder Wizards and I have come to a decision that it is time to find the next Water Realm King.”
“Great! Who is it?” Leroy asked excitedly awaiting an answer.
“I don’t know. I was hoping your father could help me figure that out. There is a soul wizard in the elemental realms. The Elders are trying to find this wizard so they can destroy it. My task is to find and help the next Water Realm King to raise an army just in case the they fail.”
The room was silent and Leroy’s face was blank, as he was clearly disappointed, “Kilen, Keepers has been here for ten years. My father and the others that are loyal have tried everything to find another king. None will take up the mantel.”
In the silence to follow, Wells cleared his throat, “It’s good to see you back. If there is a way to find a new king, I am sure we can figure it out. We have a true weapon bearer now to help us. We need to get your father here and discuss our options in potential rulers.”
Wells began moving around the room with Leroy talking about a reason for Leroy’s father to come visit the inn.
Izabel’s voice broke the conversation, “I thought Kilen was the new hope to become king.”
The two men stopped and turned.
Kilen hopped off the table and held his hands out in front of him, “Wait, no. I already told them I was not a king. I don’t know the first thing about being a soldier, let alone leading a kingdom.”
Izabel’s voice was smooth and sing song as ever, “Yet, every soldier that sits at our bar talks of how you stood in defiance of King Atmos. They fear you, and if they fear you others who fear them will stand behind you.”
“I am no king. Besides, I only have two marks on my blade.” Kilen ran his hands through his mud-caked hair and watched as flakes of dried dirt fell to the floor. “I cannot be king. I just need to talk to your father and know what’s going on here.”
Wells walked back to the table and leaned in on balled fists, “I can tell you what’s going on here. King Atmos sent soldiers here to stop you from taking the throne. At first it was a handful of wielders, then more and more soldiers started arriving each day.”
“We have the soldier’s favor for the moment,” Leroy butted in. “The wielders stop here everyday and grow our food and herbs for cooking. They also pitch in and help us build anything we request. We’re making good use of them while they are here. So far we have built a twelve room inn. A stable is enough to hold the wielder’s horses and some extra. Izabel’s herbary was completed recently and now they are working on fences for our livestock. If the Water Realm Castle is raised again, we will have a very popular inn.”
Izabel placed a dirt covered hand on Leroy’s forearm, “He doesn't want to know about our business.” She faced Kilen, “The soldiers are being sent to Humbridge, and Basham to catch you if you try to go there. Atmos has issued the orders to kill you and others if you are found. It’s good you came at the time you did. Wind wizards arrive three times a day to relay messages and troop numbers to the commander here.”
“They do?” Wells and Leroy answered in unison.
“You men do not pay attention to anything. Yes, they arrive at least three times a day. The commander's name is Captain Lorusk. He has a lieutenant that is very capable named Vincent. They rode here straight from the battle with the Fire Realm.”
“How do you know all this?” Leroy asked.
“Do you not pay attention when they speak at the bar, or while they’re working?” She said as she started to prune some of the plants nearby, “They already have a few thousand men assembled and more pour in every day.”
Leroy was clearly upset that she had been paying so much attention to the soldiers and hadn’t moved on in the conversation. “They talk about the battle, but I haven’t heard anything that you have heard,” Leroy said.
“You have to listen to all the stories and put together what you have heard from everyone.” She tapped her lip with a dirty nail, “I guess you would have to know when a man is embellishing a story to weed out the truth.” She went back to work tieing herbs along a string to dry.
“I know how to weed out lies,” Leroy said defensively following her.
Wells spoke over both of them. “We know what’s happening, but we have a bigger problem right now.”
They both looked at him and waited to hear the news of a bigger problem.
“Those soldiers will come back in the morning. They may even come back sooner. We will need to produce a sick person. I would prefer that the sick person not be the one they are ordered to kill. If they breath a word of this to their commanders, we will be seeing a hundred men within the hour.”
“I will get out of here now then,” Kilen started to walk towards the door.
“It’s not that simple, weapon bearer. If you aren’t here, they will search for the sick man we found laying in the ditch and will figure out you were here. Then they will kill us. If you are here and they come to inspect you, they will know who you are and destroy all of our hope,” Wells voice had stopped Kilen.
Perhaps it was not wise to have come to them, he thought. He should have just made his way into Keepers without them.
Izabel walked to a plant and pulled some leaves from its branches. It had a round leaf with serrated edges and was very dark green in color. Her voice was soothing and loving, “Kilen, this will not be pleasant, but it will do the trick.”
“What is it?” Kilen asked as he came closer to the table.
Leroy laughed, “Poison.”
“Poison?” Kilen said examining the mortar and pestle as she smashed the leaves into a paste.
“The effects don’t last long, so we will have to be careful on our timing,” Izabel said.
Leroy reached up to pull a small pin from Izabel’s hair. Kilen noticed that the large stakes she had normally worn were now gone. The small pin had a head on it shaped like a butterfly which changed color in the lantern’s light.
“Wells, we can make him sick. How do you think we should do this?” Leroy asked.
“We put him in a wagon and make like we are taking him to your mother for healing. If we time it right, they will see him sick and let us through. It will have to be a violent sick, so the men look away instead of looking to his face.”
“What if I don’t want to be sick or poisoned?” Kilen said as started to back away from the table.
With skilled hands, Izabel pulled a second pin from her hair and scraped it along Kilen’s hand.
The world wavered and he collapsed on the floor. Slowly, his body started to numb but his mind was racing and in control.
“How long till he becomes sick?” Wells asked.
Leroy was already dragging his limp body towards the door. He could see Izabel smiling, “That will not make him sick. It will make him paralyzed for a while or until I give him the antidote. Even if he doesn’t want to be sic
k, his acting unconscious will be horrid.”
They both laughed and she shushed them, “He can still hear you and see you. He just cannot move.”
*******************
Kilen clawed at the grip on his body, trying to move anything but he failed as he felt his limbs numb from the poison. He tried to blink or even feel his chest rise and fall but he felt nothing. He watched as his vision backed away from his body into darkness. His vision now a frameless window floating before him, surrounded by nothing.
The more distant the window, the less he could see and hear of the outside world. A weeping figure’s voice was causing a distraction to the conversation, drowning out their voices. Kilen looked around in the darkness and found two other figures with him. The figure to the left made no sound or movement other than to look at his own body. The figure to his right struggled to move towards the frame, yelling out in terror. The insistent screaming coming from the figure reminded him of The Crying Man. Then Kilen saw the sword sticking from the wound on the struggling man, a bloody black blade still protruding from his shoulder to his ribs as if he had been skewered. It was at that point Kilen knew this was The Crying Man. The spiked blade was tearing at his flesh, causing the blood to seep anew as the man crept towards the window, pulling a black chain around his waist. The chain extended into the darkness, rattling in the air as he fought it’s pull.
Shocked at the scene before him, Kilen tried to move to free The Crying Man of his burdensome sword as the man tugged at the chains holding him back. Kilen noticed the man paid no attention to him but instead stared into the frameless window. Kilen moved his feet and tried to call out to the man, but his feet did not move and his voice did not sound in the blackness. Despite Kilen’s efforts the man began to make progress towards the window, yanking on the chain that bound him. His movement was slow, but steady.
