Soon he scented Shade in a dark alleyway and they got to work. Shade dove inside his shadow again and together they went to the mess hall.
Using the alleys and dark roads for cover they circumvented all normal routes and population. There were some taverns that would be easy to get information, but the mess hall was where almost all Freelan members went to eat and enjoy themselves.
Strange movement caught his attention as horses roamed free through the city streets, but a closer look revealed a painted mare. People glanced at her, but otherwise didn’t hinder the creature. At another junction two more horses moved through the city, talking about the sugar cubes they had earlier. Alex smiled when he understood what was going on. In his mind he said, Clift you’ve done it again, haven’t you? From the look and movements of the horses and people, this had become a common sight and it filled him with even more hope about coexistence. He hurried along when a horse caught the lingering scent of a predator and came over to investigate. By the time the stallion looked, Alex and Shade were already gone.
Before getting to their destination in the fourth tallest of the five structures, it could be heard long before being seen. Shade never left his side, but Ava was preoccupied with learning the new lay of the city, for that is what she wanted most to do. She wished to see how humans lived together and in such tight living conditions. To her, living among the sky was freeing, but humans enclosed themselves. She and Alex had an arrangement to meet again in a few hours.
Time seemed to fly as they reached the enormous stone building. Music and voices spilled from the large entrance and gave an unsaid invitation to all who wished to join in the early night’s celebration.
Alex looked at the shadow beneath his feet that was out of the ordinary should any look close enough. “Shade, remember to stay hidden.”
“Right,”
As Alex strolled forward Shade kept pace beneath. Together they entered the boisterous room, after another group entered first. He followed them, trying to blend in. Soon they approached the bar-table and the familiar, well fed woman stood behind the counter and took orders. Alex ordered a large ale, a slab of steak and a loaf of bread. Just as he was about to take his meal she looked more closely at him and asked “Have we met before?”
Secrets under such drunken and boisterous conditions couldn’t be kept. Alex smiled casually and made his tone as pleasant as meeting someone for the first time, but still, he hated lying. “It has been a long time, but aye we’ve met. I’ve been out scouting Gagiat and have finally returned home.” Then he tried a hand at flattery. “Might I say it is good to see you again and you are as lovely as ever? You make even married men envious.”
She actually blushed and said merrily “Oh you silver tongued dog, off with you before my husband can hear such talk.”
Alex obliged and took an open table in the middle of the room, far enough away from the music to listen in on conversations. As he sat in a chair Shade curled beneath the table and waited patiently.
As Alex began eavesdropping he slipped the meat beneath the table and Shade silently ate the thing whole before dropping back into his insubstantial shadow. Alex sipped on his ale and picked at the loaf of bread while focusing heat to his ears, but kept his eyes upon the musicians. It was difficult to drown out noises and focus upon one person at a time. Half way into his ale a conversation piqued his interest. A group of Freelan lieutenants were talking two floors above, but Alex’s abilities made it so that he could hear as if he was sitting with them.
One man began “So you just got in?”
Another and deeper toned man said in a slight drunken slur “Aye, how I missed this place. It was fun taking the structure above Widow’s Forest, but I’ll tell you, pretending to be an ally to an enemy can get tireless. The general had many of us dress up and lure in the shipments, that was fortifying the structure, but little did they know we brought most of the supplies here.” Alex breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the hidden force had truly been found and stopped. He then heard “And I’ll also tell you another thing, those Juguan warriors give me the creeps. Trying to bring back the dead, give me a break.” The man laughed and that horrifying day surged in Alex’s memories. He wondered if there were more priests, how many more lives had been sacrificed. “So what have I missed since we left to storm the enemy base?”
Another man said “Nothing as exciting as what you’ve been doing. We are more or less building up strength for the big fight we’ve been promised. Allahandra has had our people constantly moving so that no one will slip past our borders, at least none we don’t want.” Alex chuckled as he had led an entire force without much incidence. The noise of the room filtered his small laugh and not one person turned in his direction. “We also had word that Central City has definitely been building their forces in another assault. It’s been a few years since they’ve done that. At least we’ve got control of half of their plans.”
“There’s that!” The drunkard laughed, but then became somber. “I just wish we didn’t feel so outnumbered…”
Alex tried listening for more information, but was rudely interrupted when someone kicked a leg of his chair and said “Are ya deaf?”
Keeping his anger in check Alex remained calm and looked up as three large men wearing black and green stood together. He sat his mug on the table as if he didn’t feel as interrupted as these three rude men nearly spilt the last of his drink. With a quick onceover he determined that they were each of the warrior class, but no higher than level three. One held a flanged mace, the next carried a chain wrapped around his entire right arm and the last carried what looked like brass knuckles, but they were a deep violet. Other tables looked in their direction as the three had interrupted more than just Alex. Remaining placid, he asked from his chair “What may I do for you gentlemen?”
“We’ve never seen you before. Who’s group do you belong to?” The man with the chain eyed the casually sitting man with distrust. He also noted how much he stood apart from others in the room like he was up to something. To add further distrust he noticed the ornate hilt of the sword at his hip, the shiny protectors with strange engravings and the rings on each hand. One was old, silver and scratched and marked him as belonging to Freelan, but the other looked new and was odd enough to ask questions.
Alex smiled, knowing this man wanted a confrontation. “I belong to none other than myself. What is it you want? And don’t make me repeat myself.”
This irked the three, but they remained where they were. “You are being questioned! Not us.”
Hating going around in circles Alex stood and showed he was taller and larger than the three. They grew defensive, especially as Alex moved his right hand. They waited for an attack that never came for he drew the gold medallion that held Allahandra’s seal of trust. The pendant was more than enough proof to call off their worry, but one still asked “Where did you get that?”
“Off a merchant in town.” Alex said sarcastically, but then turned serious. “Where do you think? The queen herself gave this to me and right now you’re irritating me. If you understand what this means I’d suggest you ask what you will or leave my sights.” He wondered just where he had gotten such confidence that he could order people so easily. It wasn’t a welcome feeling, ordering these men who were doing their job, but it had to be done.
The men stuttered so he gave them a way out. “If you have no further reason to interrupt my night, why don’t you go get a meal and sit with me. Why don’t we have a drink?”
The three shared a look of doubt, but the sincerity of his words showed he meant no ill will. The man with the metallic knuckles hurriedly stated “Thank you for the offer, but we need to leave. Commander Yort should be returning shortly. We are sorry for ruining your night.”
With a simple nod of permission from Alex they moved away from his table, but the damage had been done. He could no longer sit amongst so many, now that they knew he served the queen directly and had her confidence.
Time enough had been spent inside the hall and enough information had been gathered, only a dull ache in his heart crept forth when nothing had been spoken of those he cared for.
Once outside Ava quickly spotted Alex and the large silhouette of Shade beneath him. He was followed out by a group of six shady figures, but he already knew. Rounding a corner and acting oblivious to those who followed, Alex effortlessly jumped to the roof of a two story building. Like a lone shadow of a cloud shading its way across the ground, Shade just as effortlessly scaled the wall. The followers cursed when they lost him and the three siblings held a laugh when the group disbanded. Soon she swooped down and landed on his shoulder, as the three now stood upon the roof. Even Shade came from the shadow to join them in overlooking the massive city.
Ava spoke happily at all she learned about the city, how it was designed and the way humans roosted in confined spaces and Alex told her what he learned as well. It wasn’t the welcome reception he’d hoped for, but he was needing to be secretive and this was the price.
They spent the night together upon that sole roof, alone and comfortable, and her brothers told many stories of this place, but what she really wanted to see were the people. The only sounds they heard in the night came from the hooves of shoed horses or the few people who walked the night. Not a single alarm sounded that a fiend army sat just at the forest’s border.
As dawn showed itself it was time to reveal the time of their return. Only before heading to the center of the city Alex found a bath house and cleaned up everything about himself. He used his dagger to shave and cut his hair. Even his best clothes, that Kikren bought, were washed, but to dry them more quickly he increased his body’s heat. He even polished everything once again. Soon he was as presentable as he had ever been. It felt good to wash off all the travel.
Chapter 19
“HALT! WHO GOES THERE!” A guard at the inner gate demanded.
Alex walked through the city just as the morning graced the city and all its inhabitants. People from all walks of life left their homes to begin doing their daily rituals. Even the freed horses continued to traverse the city, just like the people had always done. Ava flew far above the natural sight of any human, but she never lost sight of her brothers. To make matters easier along the quickly growing crowds Shade chose to remain in his shadow as he and Alex walked the roads and took the many mazelike turns to find their way to the palace. The design of the city was made so that there was no direct route to the queen’s castle.
As usual the inner wall surrounded the entire nineteen story palace that many called home. The lone gate remained closed as usual, unless known personnel needed to enter or exit. The solid metal gate weighed well over a ton, but the counterweight made the opening and closing much easier. The tense patrol and threat of a full scale war had given way to slight paranoia and it served to see a threat in anyone, especially someone they didn’t recognize. Two level five guards stood ground level while another ten were stationed atop the wall and held their varying weapons close.
Seeing a lone man casually approaching the wall, without escort was highly uncommon and Alex walked without care, making the guards more uncomfortable. The early morning had brought out the crowds, but this close to the inner city wall, none approached without purpose. In response to seemingly traveling alone Alex walked with casual determination.
At the demand of the guard Alex came to a stop fifteen paces away. He gazed at the familiar scene with nostalgia and a feeling of calm before saying “It is good to be home isn’t it, Shade?”
The guards balked at the primal growls the darkly clad man made. Then they stepped back in surprise as Shade knew it was time to finally reveal himself and slowly separated his shadow from his brother’s and rose from it. The guards were shocked as a Shadow Fang appeared before them, but they didn’t respond in open hostility for fear gripped their hearts and held them in place. As children, all were taught to fear fiends as sinister creatures of the dark, and as adults seeing a creature that could effortlessly kill the strongest weapon user gave all a pause of concern. Seeing a fiend lord taller than any man, with fangs a foot long and claws sharper than any blade gave the fear even more to cling on to.
Shade’s golden gaze looked upon his surroundings and he drank it all in. “It truly is.” He commented back.
Seeing that there wasn’t any threatening advance from either of them the ground guard nearest to the visitors approached with dreaded caution, only after seeing his comrades supporting him with weapons drawn. Carefully he cleared his throat to gain the attention of both the enormous fiend and the man that stood at his side. “Is that you, Alex? And is that…Shade?” He asked with uncertainty.
“Who else would I be?” Alex said with a short laugh.
Then the man gasped “We didn’t know you had returned. No one from the gate informed us of your arrival. When did you get back?”
Shade couldn’t understand human language, but he watched the quick transaction with a small smile. “We arrived last night to see the state of the city. I’ve traveled for a very long time and I’ve been gone for much longer. Would you mind opening the gate for me because I have things that must be done.”
The man smiled and turned to his men with a zealous voice of cheerfulness. “It is Lord Alex! He has returned. Open the gate and inform the queen!”
Like ants coming out of their hill, men scrambled with excited vigor and as the gate opened slowly a sharp bell was rung three times. Alex and Shade approached the gate with smiles on their faces and expectations of how their arrival would be met. As the gate raised high enough to allow Shade passage the inner courtyard was growing in population as Freelan members began pouring out of the palace entrance to see what the bell had been wrung for.
Allahandra sat upon her throne, with the man who finally returned and began courting her, while she ate her morning meal with her people in the hall three sharp tolls of the inner bell had been struck by the guards at the gate. Three rings tells that a person of importance has come, but it was strange for she has not had any news of any important people visiting her home, except those already here. Not even her seers knew of this. Many of the city’s protectors stood from their tables and away from their meal to go and see who it was. Curious to see who as well she motioned for Rakkian to accompany her out and meet with this important person or persons. He gladly accepted and walked with her down the hall. But who they saw, they were both unprepared.
In the center of her courtyard stood a hulking creature of the night and a man beside it. Her people surrounded them, but didn’t swarm their personal space. Instantly the queen yelled excitedly “SHADE!? ALEX!?”
The brothers looked up to see Allahandra and Rakkian standing together and together all four smiled.
In her excitement she motioned for one of her closest warrior’s to run and retrieve two very important people and order them to come outside, but not to reveal who had come.
People parted as the queen and top general approached the long missed pair, to see what had changed since their time apart. They were unprepared for what they witnesses. “Is that really you?” Allahandra asked Alex as she marveled at all of the physical changes.
Alex said nothing as he read the new air that attracted the queen with her top general. He watched as they moved like magnets and didn’t look as if their emotions were in conflict. They moved nearly as one and looked even more protective of each other. Observations always told much more than long explanations and they were easy to read. All he said to them was “Congratulations, you deserve each other.”
His sudden statement gave them a short pause to think what he meant.
General Rakkian laughed while Allahandra looked away shyly. She was unprepared at how quickly he noticed. Then they soon began chatting while Allahandra waited for the real surprise.
Down in the kitchen a short man tapped her shoulder as she peeled potatoes. “Lily, the queen has told me that you are needed outside in the courtyard. Apparently your
services are required.”
“What is going on? I heard the bell.” She asked quickly as her warrior side kicked in. “Are we under attack?”
The man quickly added “I know not. She only told me to retrieve you and tell you to go outside immediately.”
Fearing the worst she checked her white sheathes and made sure both short swords were clear and ready to be used. She began running, not wanting to be late in facing an enemy and the short man was surprisingly agile to keep the pace she set. But as she reached the main floor, the man raced up the stairs. Apparently he still had other orders.
Looking to the entrance she saw that the mouth was packed with eager eyes staring out into the courtyard and so crowded that none could get out. Being six foot three, Lily was glad for her height when she hurriedly found her way to the back of the crowd. Her height advantage allowed her the ability to search the crowd for the queen.
The courtyard was still flooding and so many moving bodies made it difficult to find what she wanted, but a hole in the crowd gained her attention, but it was who stood inside the hole that took her breath away.
Using his newly acquired sense of smell Alex went rigid when one particular scent wafted past. A warm scent of the fresh clean smell of the sea filled his senses and aside from the ocean, only one person held such a calming scent. The bull-like general took his gauntlet-item hand off the Furion’s shoulder as he went stiff and Allahandra couldn’t stop a smirk from touching her lips. Alex turned to the opening of the palace and looked upon the one person he never wished he’d left behind.
They stared at each other like none other in the world existed and both were beyond words at this moment and something held them in place. The crowd, seeing the expression and focus of Alex finding the woman he loved went silent and parted a straight and open path between. Time came to a stop as they marveled at reuniting once again.
Furion's Trials (Book Two of the Items Trilogy) Page 39
