The Tower of Daelfaun (The Tales of Zanoth Book 1)

by Ethridge, Aaron J.

  “Actually,” the ogre replied. “We were hoping...”

  Sarrac's statement was interrupted by a loud banging on the door.

  “You've finally done it, Thaelen,” Captain Sallen's voice echoed through the building. “You've finally managed to get yourself caught. So get out here and do your best to die like a man. If you make me come get you, I'll eat your children alive in front of you before I kill you!”

  “Well, well,” Thaelen smiled, slipping one of the sword belts around his waist. “I've got to admit, I've been looking forward to this. Shall we?”

  Having said this he moved quickly toward the door, instantly followed by his allies.

  “Thaelen!” the captain screamed. “You have three seconds...”

  “What is it you want, Sallen?” he asked with a sigh. “Is there something I can do for you?”

  As Paul stepped from the building he saw that the undead captain had brought a number of ghasts and ghouls with him, along with a small army of zombies. The citizens of Jannac had begun to gather around this force, many of them carrying axes, scythes, or other tools that could serve as makeshift weapons.

  “It's Captain Sallen to you dog!” the ghast screeched. “And what you can do for me is confess your crimes so that I won't have to worry about gathering information while I'm torturing you to death!”

  “Oh, of course, Captain Sallen,” he chuckled, putting a good deal of stress on the captain's name. “Well, let's see now, my crimes include: unlawful assembly, inciting to rebellion, conspiracy, murder, assassination... oh, and unlawful possession of a deadly weapon. I'm sure there are others, but they slip my mind at the moment.”

  As he said this several members of the gathering crowd snickered.

  “You think this is funny?!?!” the captain raged. “We'll see how funny you think it is when I burn three or four of you alive!”

  “You see Sallen,” Thaelen began, before stopping himself. “I mean Captain Sallen, obviously. You're just not a very good commander. You lack what is called situational awareness. That means that you can't see or understand what's happening around you. Do you feel that Sallen? That's the wind of change, and it's just beginning to blow. Soon however it's going to become a whirlwind capable of destroying your entire empire.”

  “You're a fool!” the captain snapped. “A few false rumors spread by drunken, lying tongues and your little hearts swell with joy. You hope the gods have sent the it to save you from your betters. But the it is a myth! A legend, dreamed up by cowards for fools to put faith in! And you'll die for your foolishness! And for your insolence you'll die slowly!”

  “Well, before we get to the die slowly part,” Thaelen said with a wide smile, “I want to give you a little more information. First, I'm not a sympathizer. Nor am I just a Warrior of Dawn. I happen to be one of their captains and the leader of the Warriors here in Jannac. I wanted you to know that, because it reveals just how incredibly stupid you truly are.”

  As he said this the captain drew his sword, his soldiers, along with all his enemies, immediately following his example.

  “One moment,” Thaelen said, lifting the blade in his hands. “There's more you might want to know. My dear, will you come out here for a moment.”

  The maiden instantly answered the summons and stepped into the street.

  “Captain Sallen,” he continued, “allow me to introduce you to Myra Kel Marran who you no doubt recognize. As you can see, her rescue, which was led by Paul Stevens here or, as you may have heard him called, the it, is no rumor.”

  The captain glared at him with death in his eyes.

  “And it looks to me,” Thaelen said thoughtfully, “as if you've brought the entire garrison with you to arrest me. I have to admit, Alex, that is handy.”

  “It looks like fate to me, sir,” the young man laughed.

  “You'll die for this!” Captain Sallen barked. “When Lord Casslan finds out what you've done he'll slaughter this entire village!”

  “No,” Thaelen replied shaking his head. “No, he won't. Because the moment you're all dead, several of us are going to ride to the manor and inform his lordship that the it rode into town, all by himself, slaughtered the entire garrison without even breaking a sweat, and then simply rode away. Most of my life I've gone to sleep with fear in my heart. It's about time Lord Casslan knew what terror was. In any event, Paul, although I'm quite certain you can burn these abominations to ash in an instant, I would really appreciate it if you would wait until after I've killed our dear captain.”

  “By all means,” the young man nodded. “Do your thing.”

  Instantly Thaelen leapt on the undead commander, the sword in his hand flashing in the morning light. The entire party, along with all their allies, including those villagers who were ready to strike a blow for the living, attacked the remaining members of the garrison.

  As Paul faced off against two of the ghast lieutenants he was surprised at just how much his skill had increased since he first arrived in Zanoth. He now knew enough to tell that each of his opponents were rather skilled and that they knew how to work together against a single foe. However, they were no match for the young man, particularly with Telseir in his hand. The more he used the blade the more he felt it was an extension of himself. It was his own righteous wrath, lashing out against the wicked foes of the living. With a flick of his wrist he sent one of his enemy's swords flying, before cutting the creature in half from its shoulder to its opposite hip. As golden flame engulfed its corpse his other opponent stared in wonder. This was a momentary situation, however, as Paul instantly knocked the creature's sword to the side before deftly severing its head.

  Myra commanded a number of the zombies to begin beating the others to death, while Alena and Sarrac killed one after another, leaving bodies behind them as they waded through the battlefield. Darek faced three of the ghouls and fought them sword and dagger in a whirlwind of blades. In mere moments their lifeless forms lay at his feet. Nyssa had to carefully scour the field of conflict selecting only those enemies she could safely burn to ashes without harming anyone else.

  The villagers themselves were more than ready to put an end to their undead masters and used the tools they had brought with them to bring a number of them to a very speedy end. In less than two minutes Thaelen and the captain stood alone.

  “And now,” Thaelen panted, “the time has come to end this.”

  Having said this he lunged forward knocking the undead captain's sword out of his hand before jamming his weapon through the gut of his foe. Captain Sallen fell to his knees and bowed his head. Thaelen lifted his blade and dropped it in a flash, relieving the captain's body of the burden of his head.

  “Well, Alex,” he chuckled, “it seems that kill the garrison here got pushed to the top of the list.”

  “Yes sir,” the young man nodded. “And Miss Myra, I want to apologize to you. If there's anything I can do to make up for what I said, please let me know.”

  “Just tell people, Alex,” she smiled. “Tell them that I'm not what I once seemed to be.”

  “I certainly will!” he smiled.

  “You can also send a message for me,” Thaelen said.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Ride to the manor and tell Illac at the gatehouse that the it rode into town claiming he had come to slay Lord Casslan. Say that Captain Sallen tried to arrest him, but that he killed the entire garrison.”

  “I don't like lies,” Myra said softly.

  “Neither do I my dear, but I'll do worse than lie to protect my children.”

  “I guess I understand that,” she sighed.

  “Oh and, Alex, also tell him that when the it rode off his horse was shining like the sun,” Thaelen laughed. “That ought to make him nervous. And take three or four witnesses with you who are willing to swear that anything you say is true.”

  “You got it, sir!” Alex replied with a smile, before heading off with several of the other young men.

  “With that taken c
are of,” Thaelen said, turning his gaze to the companion, “we can get back to business. It will be a while before Lord Casslan can get soldiers in the saddle and you can be sure their first priority is going to be trying to find the it. So, we've got time to discuss this plan. Sarrac, you were just about to tell me what my part in it was.”

  Chapter 15: Fan The Flames

  “We'd like you to act as quartermaster,” Sarrac explained, stepping back into the house, quickly followed by the rest of his companions. “All things considered, we felt you might want to get your family out of Jannac.”

  “I'd like to if I could,” Thaelen replied. “For one thing, we couldn't have stayed here much longer, either way. Where are the arms hidden?”

  “The fairy well,” Alena said.

  “I don't know,” he replied, shaking his head. “That's not an easy journey. Not to mention that the well is hallowed ground, so we can't stay there for more than a couple of days. And, obviously, no one can survive for long that deep in dark lands even if there weren't undead crawling all over the place.”

  “We've got that worked out,” Nyssa assured him with a smile. “You can live in the vault and forage for food at the well. We'll still be cutting it kind of close, but it's not technically against the law because you won't actually be living at the well.”

  “I don't understand,” Thaelen replied.

  They explained.

  “Alright,” he nodded. “In that case I'll do it.”

  “Excellent,” Sarrac smiled. “Now, we need to do our best to make sure the enemy is off balance before we strike.”

  “What do you suggest?” Thaelen asked.

  “To start with,” the ogre began, “it would be a good idea to have a number of volunteers take the weapons we brought with us and start killing patrols and making random attacks across Mal’Creal. They'll need to strike and then disappear, making sure to spread rumors about the it as they go.”

  “That'll be easy enough,” he replied. “Alex would love to lead a group doing just that.”

  “Good,” Alena nodded. “They shouldn't run into much resistance while Lord Telraen has his forces deployed all over the countryside. However, if he recalls his troops, Alex should stop immediately and send the weapons back to the well.”

  “Agreed.”

  “I also think it would be a good idea,” the ogre said, “if you were to offer the tower garrison a little distraction while we're inside. Say fifty Warriors laying siege to the place, for instance.”

  “That's a bad idea,” Thaelen replied stroking his chin thoughtfully. “We'll never get anywhere near the fortress. As soon as we're spotted, which won't take long with a group that large, they'll send their troops out to crush us.”

  “Normally I'd agree,” Sarrac said. “The circumstances are anything but normal, however. Lord Telraen has spread his forces rather thin at this point.”

  “That's a fact,” he agreed. “I've heard that he's tripled the garrison at Kafmara and, as Alena mentioned, he's got large forces placed near every site even loosely referenced in a prophecy.”

  “And so,” the ogre continued, “the garrison at the tower isn't likely to sally out against our force. Especially when they can't be sure the it isn't with you.”

  “I take your point,” Thaelen admitted. “But I've still got two problems with it. First, if you're wrong we might end up facing three or four hundred undead in the field. Second, if they don't come out to kill us they're not going to be paying us any attention. It's not like we could actually break into the tower.”

  “Ah, but you could,” Darek replied. “The undead haven't feared the living for centuries. As a result they've gotten a little slack about their defenses. You could literally just climb into the dungeons through the sewers. Well... You might run into something down there. Paul and I did. Still, with fifty men you'll be able to handle it even if you do.”

  “If they see us heading into the sewers they'll just send soldiers to stop us.”

  “Exactly!” Darek nodded. “Remember, you're not trying to take the tower. You're trying to distract them while we kill Lord and Lady Telraen.”

  “Well that still leaves the possibility of facing three or four hundred of them with just fifty.”

  “Not just fifty,” Alena corrected him. “We'll be with you up until you reach the tower. And we can all be mounted, which the undead certainly won't be. I believe we can slaughter them if they do sally.”

  “Fifty, or fifty-six if you want to be technical, slaughter four hundred?” he asked, his brows knitted.

  “Absolutely,” Myra assured him. “They won't be expecting anything like us. We're a force to be reckoned with.”

  “And what choice do we have?” Darek asked. “Would you prefer us six to just go in without any support?”

  “No,” Thaelen replied, shaking his head. “Certainly not.”

  “Well then,” Sarrac said. “We don't have a lot of options.”

  “So it would seem,” he nodded. “Alright then, let's do it. We need to take every horse in town and get out of here. I'll send word out to the Warriors and have as many of them meet us at the well as are willing. It'll take a few days to gather our forces though.”

  “Right,” Darek agreed. “So we need to start now.”

  And start they did. In less than half-an-hour they had collected every horse in Jannac. Thaelen's wife and children quickly loaded the belongings they intended to take with them, which had been prepared long ago, onto the beasts. Several of the men in town decided to join the force, and the moment Alex and the young men with him returned they were given weapons, mounts, and orders.

  In the light of the still early morning the party set out toward the fairy well. Nyssa, along with a few of the Warriors from town acted as scouts. This time, however, they ran down and killed any patrols that crossed their path, rather than just avoiding them. At the moment the enemy had no idea where they were. The band wanted to seal the lips of any possible informants, as well as take the opportunity to lessen the number of undead crawling the countryside.

  Thanks to the horses, they managed to reach the well in less than three days. To their surprise they found several Warriors already waiting for them who had heard the news and rode out with all the speed they could muster. The moment the party arrived, Thaelen took up his position as quartermaster and began distributing weapons and armor. The entire war band spent the night in the vault, which Anne had managed to make rather homey in just a matter of hours.

  By the time the sun set on their second day at the well, a large number of other Warriors had arrived. In total they had nearly a hundred mounted men ready to strike a blow against the undead.

  “This was more than I was expecting,” Sarrac admitted. “And I thank the gods for it.”

  “The people are excited,” Thaelen replied with a wide smile. “Lord Telraen did his best to hush up the rumor that Paul turned both he and his lady, but it was pointless. More than a hundred saw it when it happened. The people believe the it has come and they're ready for revolution.”

  “Well it's going to be a long road,” Darek pointed out. “I hope they understand that.”

  “Most do,” he replied. “And those that don't soon will. Still, we've given them hope. And hope is an amazing thing.”

  “It is,” Myra agreed with a sigh. “But I'm a little concerned to be honest. I mean about all these men. Where are they going to go when this is over? We don't have a stronghold and we won't for a long time. Are they just going to wander the wilderness from now on?”

  “There's nothing to worry about,” Thaelen assured her. “Some of these men are already wanderers, just like Sarrac and Alena. Others are wood choppers, hunters, fishermen, etc. Their masters will never realize they were missing for a week or so. Still others are shop keepers or craftsman that can excuse an absence with very little effort. A few days from now, all the ones who survive will be back home and no one the wiser.”

  “I hope they all survive,” the
maiden replied.

  “As do we all,” he agreed. “But it's not very likely, my dear. War is a dangerous occupation. It always comes at a price. And as high as it is they're all willing to pay it. I just wish I could ride with you.”

  “Well you can't” Alena smiled. “We can't risk getting our quartermaster killed. Not to mention that you're a family man. In fact, some might describe you as the family man.”

  “I know,” he replied. “I just said I wished. In any event, you all need to get some rest. Tomorrow you'll be on you way before daybreak.”

  “That we will,” Darek agreed.

  The sun rose the following morning to find the band already on its way. The decision had been made to first head to the little dale where Darek and Paul had spent the night following their escape from the tower. It would take them a roughly two days to reach it, which meant they had to spend one night in the dark lands without so much as the cover of any trees, but it couldn't be helped.

  The first night they were set upon by a number of maruel, but these creatures proved no trouble for such a large force. Especially not for one so well armed. The following day they reached the dale. The trees that managed to cling to life in the area supplied more than enough wood to keep the fires burning during the watches of the night. If they rode hard the next day they could reach the tower well before noon and begin their assault.

  Around midnight the watch raised the alarm. A large force of undead were quickly approaching. The entire band instantly rose and readied their weapons in anticipation of an attack. They were not kept waiting long.

  The first wave of enemies were nothing more than zombies sent in to loosen up the enemy before the more powerful undead attacked. These, however, we no match for the living foes they faced. The Warriors of Dawn were well trained, determined, and ferocious. As a result their enemies, who numbered just over a hundred, lay slaughtered around the campsite in mere minutes.

  However, moments later the group was attacked by nearly as many ghouls and ghasts, armored from head to toe, and wielding swords and scimitars. Twenty reapers also joined the fray, led by the lord and lady themselves. As soon these foes made their appearance, Paul and his companions rushed to engage them.