“I tell you what; I’ll let you go back to the Council of Three and make that report,” Reaver said sarcastically. “You don’t want to? Go on; why not?” he goaded Raj. “My team is going to go to the end of the road, and then we’ll go into Valeriane to try to find the runaways.
“You go along now. Go home and tell the Council you don’t see any point in trying, because we can’t win. We’re just poor little Ajacii getting beat up by the big, bad foreigner! Maybe the Sleagh Maith can bail us out, and we’ll be forever grateful to the eternal ones.”
Raj refused to back down. “We’re going back. We had a mission. We went to Valeriane. We delivered the message we were supposed to. We checked out the road on the way there, and on the way back. Whatever happened because of the slack security in the village is bad, but it wasn’t our fault!”
Both sides stood silently, eyeing one another antagonistically. It only needed a spark to set it off, Alec saw. He crept onto the road, standing behind the four men from the village, then tossed a dagger that sunk into the chest of Raj before he could react, even with his Ajax speed, not having seen the dagger until it emerged from nothingness.
One of Raj’s companions pulled his sword and swung impulsively at the Valer squad. Alec hastily backed far away as an all out melee erupted into existence. The groups were unevenly matched, and the brutal combat quickly left nine of the sixteen Ajacii dead, and four of the remainder severely wounded. Not a one remained alive from Reaver’s village group.
Alec silently slipped around the survivors and returned to where Bethany sat in front of Caitlen, her sword drawn. I’m back, right in front of you, he silently alerted them, then made himself visible seconds later.
Thank the stars, you’re alive, Caitlen said, grasping his arm forcefully. We heard the clash of metal and you were gone and we didn’t know what was happening.
Two Ajacii patrols met, and I goaded them into attacking one another, Alec replied. Our road home will be easier now. Come with me; let’s get going.
Inside Alec’s bubble of invisibility, they cautiously crept to the edge of the road to observe the scene. The dead had been laid out on one side of the road, and the wounded who had lived were being carried back to Valer on the backs of the survivors. Alec, Bethany and Caitlen remained in place until the slow moving survivors had disappeared from sight, then they stepped onto the road and began moving at their fastest pace towards freedom. Late in the day the empty road began to regularly descend, and by the time they camped for the night they were at an altitude several hundred feet below their highest point of the day.
Chapter 21 – Safety in Valeriane
Today we reach Valeriane, Alec promised the two weary women as he aroused them for the start of the day. I dare say you’ll have a mattress and a bath tonight!
I love you, Caitlen responded coquettishly.
Right now, I love you too! Bethany added enthusiastically, and they all laughed aloud, giddy at the prospect of making their successful escape.
The road sloped further downward, and by late afternoon, they were leaving the foothills when Alec finally removed his invisibility from them all, allowing them to spread out and walk at a more natural pace. “I have a room reserved at the Golden Goose,” he said in a casual tone of voice.
“The Golden Goose? Isn’t that the place we tried to stay in Valeriane?” Caitlen rose to take the bait.
“It is,” Alec affirmed. “It’s the place you wore that black lacy negligee, and I made your hair blond. You were scrubbing my back for me in the bath tub when the Vincennes Council patrol came to try to arrest us.”
“That was on our way to Black Crag, back when I didn’t even know she was the real princess,” Alec told Bethany. “I thought we were just the decoy to help the princess escape.”
“And I didn’t know he was a three hundred year old man who kills demons to make a point,” Caitlen retorted, as Bethany laughed at the two of them.
“This is where I kissed you for the first time,” Alec answered.
“Because I told you to, for the sake of appearances,” Caitlen promptly replied.
“Should we get two rooms at the inn instead of one?” Bethany asked. “And could you two wait until we get there?”
Buildings were growing plentiful, and they entered the lobby of the inn just before nightfall. “You still have my room reserved?” Alec asked the clerk. “I’d like two bath tubs and plenty of hot water placed in the room immediately,” he told the man, and led his friends up to the room where he had left some clothing and other items. The tubs arrived quickly, along with a brigade of staff people carrying buckets of hot water up from the kitchen stove.
“That’s enough,” Alec told the staff, seeing how anxious Caitlen and Bethany were to slip into the water.
“It’s not warm enough, Alec,” Caitlen complained. “We do need more heat.”
“Let me try something,” Alec offered. He closed his eyes as he focused on the use of the Light ingenaire energy that he could only marginally manipulate by that point. He remembered the seductive way the energy had tried to lure him deeper into the power realm by promising him he could use light for the very purpose of creating warmth and comfort.
He visualized a reddish light, one that carried heat energy more than light, and then he gathered up the spare light from the room’s candles, and focused it onto the surface of the water in one tub, as the rest of the room darkened. He opened his eyes. “Don’t touch it!” he warned Bethany as she reached towards the light beam. She snatched her hand back just a moment before the water began to steam.
“That’s amazing!” Caitlen commented, she had already removed her boots as she sat on the bed and watched Alec’s action. He moved over to the other tub to warm up that water as well. “I never thought that light could do so many things besides letting us see. Speaking of which, would you preserve Bethany’s delicate modesty and turn around until we get in our tubs?”
Alec turned for the two short minutes it took both women to blissfully slide deep into the warmth of their baths, soaking and relaxing until Alec finally pointed out they would miss eating a meal if they didn’t get to the dining room soon.
Chapter 22 – A Journey to Warm Springs
A month later, Alec returned to the Imperial palace in Vincennes yet again after taking another journey. After accompanying Bethany and Caitlen back to the palace in their return from Valer, Alec had disappeared for several days, going to find the solution to the Ajacii problem, he said.
“We’ll be safer now,” Alec told Caitlen when they finished their greeting as he rejoined the court. “That was the first step in the process.”
“What exactly did you do?” she asked. “I don’t see any new scars or missing limbs.”
Alec pulled up his right sleeve to show a new ingenaire mark, a range of mountains that completely encircled his wrist. “I became a Stone ingenaire,” he explained.
“I learned how to modify stone. Then I went back to the Valley of Valer. Do you remember the long climbing road that is the only way out of the village?” he asked her.
She nodded uncomprehendingly. “It was made of stone, of course, carved right out of the side of the canyon wall. Now it doesn’t exist anymore. I made it regress back into the mountainside in several places. They’ll have to spend years rebuilding it,” he explained.
“That only leaves one more question for now,” Alec added. “Who are the Sleagh Maith?”
“Well, who are they?” Caitlen asked.
“I overheard the Ajacii leaders talk about an alliance with them; they called them ‘the eternal ones.’”
“Do you think the Sleagh Maith will try to attack us next?” Caitlen asked as she took his hand between hers, her fingers idly tracing the lines above Alec’s wrist.
“I’m going to go,” he paused. “I’ll ask Bernadina. Let me go to the study and share my thoughts with her. I think this is something I should learn, and I have other things to share with her. The Ajacii are aware of
her race, and I should have told her that already.”
“You keep her such a hidden mystery,” Caitlen said with an arch expression. “Should I be jealous?”
In response Alec used his Spiritual powers to open his soul to her again, sharing his love and devotion, and making her rise on her tiptoes to kiss him gently. “Go talk to your mysterious friend,” she said playfully as they separated.
Alone in the study in the palace’s residential wing, Alec sat and wondered how much he should trouble Bernadina with his concerns about the Ajacii’s plotting. The whole story needs to be told, he decided.
Bernadina, can you hear me? He called out across space.
Alec, I hear you. Are you well? Her voice immediately responded.
Not as well as I would be if I were soaking in the Red Pool, he told her. But well by ordinary standards. I have questions that only you can answer, if anyone can.
If I have the answers, I will share them. This must be something of importance to you. Tell me what is on your mind, she urged him, and Alec told her the story of his trip to Valer to set Caitlen free and the conversation he had overheard.
So the Ajacii had reached out to the sorcerers and to the Sleagh Maith, and they wish to speak to us as well? Bernadina recapped. That is extraordinary. But you say they do not know how to find us; they do not know about Warm Valley?
So their words led me to believe. Who are the Sleagh Maith? I’ve heard you mention them before. What advantage in war would they give the Ajacii? How long do you think I have the Ajacii bottled up in their village? Alec tried to pin down the things he needed to learn.
Alec, you are extraordinary beyond words. Do you remember my story when first you visited here, the story of the legend of the Temple race, and their destruction? Bernadina asked. You remind me of Hellmann, if one saw him in a mirror as an image reversed, the evil transposed to good. You are able to gain new powers that you use to protect your friends.
Let me tell you about the Sleagh Maith, because they are a part of your unique heritage, just as the Lokasennii and the Ajacii are. They are the race that has the ability to heal themselves. They can also share some of their healing with others, though not as proficiently as you, Bernadina explained. They live very long lives because they can overcome so many illnesses and injuries before they ultimately surrender to old age. I happened to meet a Sleagh Maith once in a western village when I was in my youthful travels; I know where they reside.
Alec sat and contemplated what she told him. Are you still there? Bernadina asked as the silence lengthened.
Would you lead me to the Sleagh Maith village, so that I could learn what they have in mind to do with the Ajacii? Would it be worth talking to them? Alec asked in reply.
Are you still there? Alec asked at length as there was no immediate response.
After my last trip away from Warm Springs, when the bandits captured me, I promised never to leave the village again. Baltasar relented and even accompanied me when I came to your city to help heal you after the attack by the grendel, Bernadina explained slowly. I believe he would concede my safety if I travel with you. Let me speak to my beloved, and I will let you know, Alec.
Thank you Bernadina, Alec told her. I will wait to hear from you, and I accept whatever answer you give. I don’t like to leave Caitlen alone either, after nearly losing her so many times; I understand Baltasar’s heart in this matter.
Alec left the study and went in search of Caitlen. He found her in a conference room, meeting with her treasury officials, Rahm and another guard providing guard service for her. He didn’t need to interrupt her, so he went to the armory, where he practiced swordsmanship with a number of the guards, as he awaited hearing a reply from Bernadina.
I will be your traveling companion, Bernadina’s voice entered his mind as he parried an attack from a young new member of the palace corps. Alec backflipped away from the boy and dropped his sword.
I am pleased, he replied.
Baltasar is not happy, but he says that there is no one who could keep me safer than you, the lokasennii leader told Alec.
I will leave Vincennes within the next few days to come to you, Alec answered.
There is a condition, a favor I insist upon, Bernadina added, surprising Alec with the firmness of her tone. I want you to bring the grendel-caller, the young one you captured.
Really? The apprentice sorcerer? You want me to bring him to Warm Springs? Will he ever be allowed to leave? Why do you want him? Alec asked in surprise as he stripped off his training pads.
He will be welcome here. The rest will be answered in time, Bernadina assured him. Just bring your young protégé with you, the deep feminine voice in his mind said. I look forward to seeing you again. Journey safely.
Alec apologized to his partner for the interruption in the sparring match, and then left the armory.
That night Alec escorted Caitlen to a banquet in the city, and as they rode home in the coach, he informed her of his planned trip.
“You are going into the wilderness again?” she asked in exasperation. “Didn’t you just return? Can’t you stay here with us? The rebellion is practically over and the city is at peace at last. I want you to enjoy life without war.”
“I don’t know if the war is over yet, Caitlen,” Alec protested. “We may not see swords and soldiers, but I’m afraid there is still unseen potential for a new war to fall upon us. I have a feeling there is more that we don’t know about. I want to understand and face these problems while we can still manage them.
“I’ll journey to Black Crag, and probably come back soon after that,” he added.
“Be careful Alec. I know that’s a silly thing to say to the indestructible man, but I mean it. I want you to come back and settle down to a peaceful life here. The court has expectations now; we’ve built up quite a bit of goodwill through the victories you’ve won, but the nobles always want more,” Caitlen spoke like a ruling monarch for a moment. “I’m just worried about you; I’ll miss you.”
The next day Alec found Bauer among the youthful nobility who were serving their time as hostages in the court, and he pulled him aside. “Tomorrow morning I will leave on a journey to Black Crag,” Alec told the boy who had come to worship him. “I want you to come with me. Pack a bag that will carry you through a long journey, and possibly some cool weather in the mountains.”
The boy joyfully complied, and the next morning the two of them slipped out of the palace stables before dawn. They traveled fast and light, and reached Eckerd a week later, where they visited Gottfried’s estate, and Bauer met Gerlach, the Viscount’s son. The next day they began again; even in the early winter time, the trip to Black Crag on horseback was much easier than it was on foot, Alec reflected two days later as they passed the last village in the mountains.
Bauer had never seen such monumental mountains before, and he often rode silently, wrapped in furs and gazing at the heights above them, while commenting on the caravan traffic they often passed, and the snowy heights. After a week they reached the valley that Alec recognized. He hadn’t broken the truth to Bauer yet about going to meet Bernadina in Warm Springs, though he had contacted her the day before and told her they were near. She had reaffirmed that the boy was to come to Warm Springs.
“Is this a short cut?” Bauer asked as he looked at the narrow trail they were entering onto.
“This is the first stop on our journey. It is a hidden village called Warm Springs, where I was healed and treated after I fought a battle in the mountains once. There is a lady here who can speak mind-to-mind over great distances, and she asked to meet you,” Alec explained.
“Me? Who is she? What does she know about me?” Bauer asked, concern evident in his tone.
I know that you will find comfort here, they both heard Bernadina’s unspoken response to his spoken question.
“I know she is a good person. I did not bring you here to let you be hurt,” Alec reassured him further. “The village is a marvelous place to see
.”
They rode on until they began to descend into the valley that held the village; the greenery below them was a stark visual contrast to the snow and stone about them. They reached the first huts of Warm Springs, and found Bernadina and Baltasar waiting for them. The village had no horses or stables, so they tied their mounts to a tree and entered a hut where a warm and filling meal was waiting.
As they made polite talk about their journey, Alec could sense Bauer’s nervousness increasing. The boy had been bullied at times in the court for his accent and his background, and he didn’t take easily to unknown situations after all the turmoil he’d been through. Alec resolved to comfort him.
Ajacii and Demons: The Ingenairii Series Page 27
