Red Season Rising

by D. M. Murray

  “Observe. Your mission is before you,” Harruld whispered.

  *

  “This is ludicrous!” Kalfinar exclaimed as the water ceased boiling and the vision faded away to nothingness. “You’re to send us out into the world, to landscapes and cities we don’t know, to recover individuals no one can recognise, using nothing but our wit! This is obscene.” Kalfinar rubbed at his healing shoulder as he ranted, “You’re asking us to return to you special grains of sand from a desert.” He shook his head and exhaled a breath heavy with frustration.

  “I agree with Kal,” Broden said. “How can we be expected to find these people, and with what time? If our logic is correct, then Grunnxe and his forces are readying for an assault as we speak.”

  Governor Harruld raised his hand towards the two men. “I understand your concerns, but this must be so. We’ve been unable to react until now, for it was not the time nor the mission. Without fully knowing what was occurring, and with the spirit closing in on Kalfinar, the mission would certainly have failed. We stand a chance now, for only now can we take the risk.”

  Kalfinar felt a vein throbbing at the side of his head. “Risk! Do you want to know about risk? Risk is taking Broden and I, and whoever else you send with us, to the four corners of the world when we would be better put to use commanding the defence of our country!”

  “Still yourself, Kalfinar,” Olmat said. “Your mission is the key to the defence of our country, and our faith. For if you fail, we all fail. You have all got roles to play in this design.” The three old brothers returned to their seats as Olmat spoke, “You will not be alone or without guidance. You saw a stone in the vision, did you not?”

  Kalfinar and Broden affirmed they had witnessed such.

  “That is the key to your success, for it will grow brighter the closer you get to the horn of Dajda; they are linked,” Olmat said. “The vision showed you the lands that they were born into. These lands mark your path and it is in these places you shall find them, all being well.”

  “And I suppose we will be able to see them walking around with a nimbus around their heads as well,” Kalfinar said, referring to the locating of the beings from the vision, his tone thick with disbelief.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, you will, in a manner of speaking,” Olmat replied, with no sign of his patience flagging whatsoever. “You have that gift amongst your many other skills, lad. You have never experienced it before, because you have never seen one of such light, of such spirit, before. But when you do, oh, what a site it is to behold.”

  Kalfinar’s brows furrowed as Olmat revealed more.

  “You will use the stone to guide you, to draw you close to them. Now, remember the horn of Dajda are not consciously aware of their being. They are like you or I, simply flesh and bone, but when you see them, you will know it. What you saw in the vision does not do their beauty justice at all. You will see their true form before you, and you will do well not to weep.”

  Kalfinar nodded slowly.

  “So what is this stone? It must be special somehow,” Broden said, referring to the fist-sized rock which pulsed and glowed in the vision.

  “It is special,” Olmat answered. “It is the most precious thing you will ever behold. It is the Godstone.”

  “I’m sorry, the what?” Broden asked.

  “The Godstone.” Olmat looked at the confused faces before him. “I think I ought to speak plainly.”

  “Please do,” Kalfinar and Broden spoke in unison.

  “The Godstone is essentially the heart of Dajda.” The brows on the faces before Olmat furrowed further still. “To enable us to get close enough to locate the horn of Dajda, and to awaken that consciousness within them, we need to have a link to them. They are the children of Dajda, and so they are linked through Dajda’s heart. From the instant you receive the Godstone, our world becomes threatened yet further, but it is a risk we must take if we are to break what evil floods us. For the Godstone to manifest itself on this world, Dajda need to, essentially, go into a form of stasis.”

  “A what?” Kalfinar asked.

  “Dajda must sleep. It will mean we who worship will enter a period of grave risk. Our souls will not remain protected as they were, and our prayers will go unanswered. We Tuannan will have no gifts. It is a time of darkness for our people.”

  Kalfinar nodded.

  “Once you locate them, in order to awaken them, as you witnessed in the vision, you are required to touch the Godstone to their heart. I mean this literally.” Olmat looked at the men, fully expecting another question, but none came. “Do you understand what I’ve just said?” the old physician asked.

  “I understood what you said, Olmat,” Kalfinar said. “I think it may be best to just accept it all now, whether I comprehend or not.”

  The old physician nodded. “I see. Do not worry about harming the individual when you make for their heart. The Godstone will undo any physical damage inflicted.”

  “So when do we get the Godstone?” Broden asked.

  “You will not get it,” Sarbien spoke up. “Evelyne shall carry it.”

  “What?” Kalfinar and Broden barked in unison.

  *

  The guardsman entered and saluted the governor, who was surrounded by paperwork following the High Command’s earlier council. “Governor Harruld, Captain Albright from the City Guard has some news to report concerning Chief Administrative Office Johnstane.”

  “Send him in.” The governor placed down his quill and sat back in his chair.

  The blue-liveried officer strode stiffly into the room and saluted the governor.

  “What news have you for me, Captain?” Harruld asked as he stroked the head of his wolf-hound.

  “My lord.” The captain’s stare fixed on the embroidered tapestry hanging behind the governor’s desk as he spoke, “We have located Chief Administrative Officer Johnstane.”

  “And?” the governor prompted, frustration displayed on his face.

  The captain glanced down and held the governor’s eyes. “His body was found in a boarding house by the port this morning. Strangled.”

  Governor Harruld nodded his gratitude for the receipt of the news. “How long had he been dead?”

  “My lord, the landlady said he checked in two nights ago and hadn’t been seen since. She said he seemed anxious. He paid her for two nights upfront and claimed he was a merchant waiting for a ship to Terna leaving this morning. She said that when the key had not been left for her in the morning, she grew concerned and that when she went to the room, the door was locked. It was after she used the spare key to access the room that she sent for the City Guards.”

  “Had he any visitors that she could report of?” the governor asked.

  “None that she mentioned, my lord,” the captain replied. “But it appears there were no signs of a forced entry. He had to have let them in somehow.”

  Governor Harruld nodded his agreement.

  “Also, my lord, it appears Johnstane did not die without a fight.”

  Governor Harruld rose in his chair, eager for some good news.

  “We think Johnstane wounded his killer, although it seems as if there was some rushed attempt to cover this up. There are smeared stains on the floor of the room that is certainly blood. Johnstane was strangled, so the blood is not his, and the landlady claims that they were not there before. I think the killer has been maimed. Johnstane’s side arm is missing. I believe the killer took the weapon upon leaving.”

  “No one can leave the city without the clearance of the Command, so there is a good chance that the killer remains within the city walls.” Governor Harruld thought, absently gnawing at a rag nail. “Captain, fetch me a list of all those who have left the city in the last two days. And, Captain, keep an eye out for that key. If the door was locked from the outside, it has to be somewhere,” the governor ordered.

  The captain saluted and turned to leave the room.

  “And, Captain,” Governor Harruld called after him.
“Good work.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Where’s Kalfinar?” Evelyne asked, storming into the room where Broden sat in conversation with the three old physicians and Chentuck.

  “I think he’s gone to our chambers. I got the impression he was a bit put out of joint by the idea that you and Chentuck would be joining us.”

  “So I’ve heard!” she snapped each word off. “I’ve had enough of his shit. One of us needs to say something. Seems you’re all quite content to indulge his attitude.” Sarbien’s daughter flashed out of the room.

  “My, she is a feisty one isn’t she?” Broden quipped.

  “You have no idea,” Chentuck replied with a good-humoured grimace.

  *

  Evelyne’s buckskin-soled shoes padded quietly atop the flagstones lining the accommodation wing. She had found Broden and Kalfinar’s shared chamber to be empty. Evelyne chided herself for having barged into the vacant room and voicing her annoyance at nothing but the walls.

  “Self-pitying prick,” she muttered to herself as she searched. “Needs a good kick up the arse.”

  Evelyne wasn’t quite sure how long she had been searching, having got lost amidst a maze of stairs and hallways. Upon hearing a strange sound, she stopped in front of a shut door to a distant apartment. Leaning her ear against the door, she listened.

  *

  Kalfinar clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. His skin burned and he felt the perspiration merging, creeping towards his hairline. His fists balled by his temples as he hunkered in the darkness of the empty apartment he once shared with his wife.

  Tears fell freely from his eyes and soaked his face. The mounting pressures and conflicts of his heart and mind washed over him. Only now did the pain find its escape.

  “I’m sorry. I tried not to come.” He slouched onto the floor, his back to the cold stone wall. “Why? Why did you leave me?” Kalfinar’s words were coughed out between sobs and the crackling of mucus. “Why did you go? Why did you go away? I’m not able for this. I’m wasted. I’m at my journey’s end, love.” His spluttered words fell into the blackness of the room around him. “Call me home, my dear. Call me home and I’ll come.”

  His mind raced, flashing from one thought to the next. The task before him, vast and beyond his understanding. The burning need to return to the docks, to his relief, constantly nagging, itching, tormenting him. The pain of his loss, stabbing at his heart, over and over. His shame, so much shame, and the pain. His secret wish to rest at last, leaving all the burdens aside. And, finally, his duty to those about him. Those whom he still loved. He released an agonising moan, banging the back of his head repeatedly onto the wall. A maelstrom of sorrow enveloped him, and his heart ached.

  *

  Evelyne stood silently against the door, tears brimming her eyes and rolling down her cheeks as she felt the full force of Kalfinar’s pain.

  The moan from the other side of the door trailed off into a pitiful whimper. It was wrong, she knew, that she should bare silent witness to this grief. She carefully removed herself from the apartment and left Kalfinar to his agony.

  *

  “Thaskil, make sure the sergeants have the men ready. Each soldier must have all of the personal equipment on this list. No exceptions and no excuses.” Bergnon handed a rolled sheet to the young officer. “Arrlun, see that the quartermaster and his men have loaded the provisions tonight. I want the ships to be moving down the Valeswater by sunrise.”

  They saluted and set about their business.

  When the young lieutenants had vacated the room, Bergnon opened up the map of Ilsinuer, and looked at his objective: Sail down the Valeswater and then push ahead with the battalion to the city of Apula and make ready the defence against Solansian raiders.

  “Apula shall bleed for the sake of the Free Provinces once again. Another red season dawns,” Bergnon sighed. He squeezed his eyes shut and cradled his head in his hands. “And so to blood.”

  *

  Kalfinar opened the door and entered the office where Broden sat with Governor Harruld, the three physicians, Chentuck and Evelyne. His face revealed little of his earlier grief.

  “Where have you been?” Harruld asked. “We’ve waited for some time.”

  “I needed to think.” Kalfinar said as he took his place at the table. “I must apologise for my earlier behaviour. Been a little short on manners of late. I can’t profess to understand fully this path we tread, but I know we each have a role to play in this. I’ll accept what I don’t understand. Chentuck, please accept my apology. I’ve behaved with ignorance and little grace.”

  Kalfinar leant across the table and shook the hand of the Ravenmayne. As he sat back in to his seat, Kalfinar caught the eye of Evelyne, who smiled at him, nodding her thanks almost imperceptibly.

  Olmat produced a map and spread it over the table. “Pay attention to me now, for you will have to remember what I show you on this map. Remember well, for you may take nought but memory, for fear it falls into the hands of our enemy.”

  Each of the members of the expedition edged closer to the old physician.

  “There are three that make up the Horn of Dajda. They will each need to be awoken. You must be so very careful, for the Godstone will be the most desired object in the world, and many will try to claim it. Doing so will put the soul of every man, woman and child in a position of the gravest danger, and leaving them exposed to those of dark motives. Once you have located them, you must touch the Godstone to their beating heart to awaken them. Do that as soon as you find them, for in mere human form they are more vulnerable than once they have been awoken. Do it quickly, for I fear you will be tracked and enemies will try to steal away the mortal life before they can be brought into the world as whole. Be wary of this, for if the body dies, the soul is lost to us until its rebirth.”

  “How will the Godstone come to us?” Kalfinar asked.

  “It comes now, Kalfinar. When we pray to Dajda, and it is known that we are ready, Evelyne shall receive it. Let us pray, in whatever words you wish. They will be heard all same.”

  They bowed their heads and offered silent words to Dajda.

  After several interminable minutes, Olmat spoke, “Dajda is coming.”

  A flash of hot wind gusted around the room, blowing out candles and flame, leaving the room in total blackness.

  “Dajda is here,” Olmat continued.

  Light exploded into the room, and was gone again. The glare blinded everyone with a kaleidoscopic storm of pulsing colours.

  “That is all,” Olmat said in the blackness.

  “Someone fetch a light,” Harruld called to the one of the guardsmen outside of the room.

  As the room was illuminated, Kalfinar gasped. “Evelyne!” he shouted as he pushed his chair back. His actions were mirrored by all. “What’s happened?” he roared as Evelyne lay slumped backwards in her chair, a smouldering mark in her dress above her breast.

  Olmat spoke, “Fear not, for she has received Dajda.”

  “What?” Kalfinar opened her closed eyes, checking for signs of life. He felt for a pulse. “What are you talking about?” Kalfinar asked.

  “Trouble not, Kalfinar. Evelyne will be fine.” As Olmat spoke, Evelyne stirred, her eyes flickering open.

  “Father,” she coughed. It was a dry and wracking noise. “Has it happened?”

  “Yes, my love.” Sarbien’s smile was unable to fully mask his concern.

  Broden produced a mug of water for Evelyne. “This will help your throat,” he said as he wrapped her fine hand around the earthenware mug. She lightly nodded her gratitude. Broden returned to his seat with a timid smile.

  “Olmat, what exactly has occurred here? I thought we were to receive the Godstone?” Kalfinar asked.

  The old man stared at Kalfinar for a brief moment with an amused look on his face. “We have received it.” He glanced towards the stricken woman and back to Kalfinar. “Evelyne is the Godstone.”

  *

&nb
sp; “Get that first ship moving! We can’t linger here all bloody morning!” The sun crept above the horizon as Bergnon shouted ahead to the first ship transporting men and supplies along the Valeswater. “Damn it, but we’re already behind schedule,” Bergnon cursed.

  “Relax,” Kalfinar said, clapping a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’ll be in Apula before you know it.”

  “Aye, perhaps so,” Bergnon replied as he stared at the sailors fumbling with the lead ship’s tethers. He made to shout at the sailors, but then returned his focus to his companions. “I wish I could come with you.”

  “I too.” Kalfinar smiled. “But you’re needed at Apula. If our theory’s correct, Colonel Albasi and many others are already dead. There’ll be few remaining skilled enough to ready the city’s defences,” Kalfinar replied.

  “And there’s no one better for the job,” Broden said. “Listen to everything Major Bergnon has to say, lads,” Broden addressed Thaskil and Arrlun. “You’ll be serving under one of our best. There’s much you can learn from him.”

  “So, farewell?” Bergnon offered his hand to Kalfinar, but was embraced instead.

  Sensing his friend flinch within their embrace, Kalfinar stepped back. “You alright?” he asked.

  “Fine.” Bergnon smiled. “I just pulled a muscle loading my armour last night. I guess we’re just getting that little bit older. Should’ve left the labour to these strapping lads.” He laughed and slapped Arrlun on the back.

  “In that case, I’ll settle for a handshake.” Said Kalfinar as they shook hands.