Visions: Knights of Salucia - Book 1

by C. D. Espeseth

  “Let’s hope it only takes one, Fin,” Jonah responded to try to reassure his friend. “Let’s hope it only takes one.”

  * * *

  It took three.

  Three temples were obliterated and a large section of the outer wall blown wide open before the rulers and citizens of Dawn marched the remnants of the Salucian defenders out. The rulers of the city had wanted to surrender after the first temple, just as Jonah had guessed, but it had taken two more, and the loss of a defensible wall, before the enemy general finally capitulated.

  Assurances of cooperation from the city’s officials and Dawn’s spiritual leader, the Hierophant, elicited a somewhat surprising promise from Prince El'Amin that the Eurans would rebuild the fallen temples.

  It had taken less than two days for Dawn to fall, and with an entire campaign of only a few months, most of the country of Kenz was now in the hands of the Euran Empire.

  Prince El'Amin sent his fastest ships back across the great sea to the north the day after Dawn was secured. On each ship there were a dozen messengers who would spread word of the new world and the chance of a glorious new beginning for any who would swear fealty to House Amin.

  Also aboard these ships were messengers who carried a second command within a secret letter. The letters were specifically for the Prince's mother, Dinesa, Matron of House Amin. The encoded missives could only be read by the nobility of House Amin, and when received they would read very simply: ‘Send all of our forces. Move the power of our entire House and everything we have across the sea. All of it. Now. Do this, and I promise you shall be the new Empress.’

  15 - The Gig that Changed Everything - Kai

  I wonder how much of the junk we have mass-produced will make its way into the future, polluting their world just like it did ours?

  Sadly, there was no way to get rid of it all. I apologise to the next generations in advance. Although, if the NREs suddenly came across a horde of preserved chocolate bars it would take all my willpower to tell them not to bring them back to base.

  - Journal of Robert Mannford, Day 211 Year 002

  Tonight was it.

  If they didn’t generate large enough tips and encores, Hanson was going to bump them for another act. Kai looked out from behind the curtain. A loud murmur permeated the smoky air of the small common room of the Broken Clock Inn. Kai spotted Hanson and caught his eye. “What’s the crowd like?” Kai mouthed.

  Hanson just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a hopeful look.

  Not good. Hanson was trying to buoy his spirits. Not good at all.

  The crowd could be up for it, Kai thought, looking at the happy faces, but his attention kept diverting to the plates of food dotted around the tables. His stomach growled at the wonderful aroma of cooked pork, roast vegetables and stewed apple gravy, all mixed with the sweet smell of woodsmoke.

  What Kai wouldn’t give for a proper meal. Tonight was the last night of the harvest feasts and everyone was filling their bellies with the fruits of their hard labour. He saw someone had left a morsel of pork roast on their plate. Kai’s mouth watered at the sight. He might get some of those leftovers tonight if Meriam, Hanson’s wife and cook at the Broken Clock, didn’t select it for a stew or something for tomorrow’s meal.

  No! Focus on the gig. Kai bit his lip painfully, making himself focus on something other than Meriam’s excellent food.

  It had to be tonight. It was tonight, or he’d have to tell Jachem they’d have to quit.

  There were enough people. It might work.

  But if it didn’t, well, Kai didn’t want to think about that. Jachem wouldn’t handle the news well, but Sister Maria needed Kai to help pay the bills. She had never asked him to, and never took it for granted, but he knew there were all those mouths to feed at the orphanage, and he’d be damned if was going to let those little ones go hungry like he had.

  It’ll be alright. He felt for the purse of coins on his hip. He had already put in a double shift today at the docks. It should be enough.

  “You better be careful, Kai, you’re young and healthy now but one day that back of yours will start to feel the strain of all that extra lifting. And then where will you be?” Harbour Master O’Brian had spoken to him just this afternoon about all the extra shifts, but Kai had stopped listening when the harbour master placed a silver coin in the palm of his hand. Silver instead of copper.

  “I’ll have to worry about that when it happens,” Kai had said, trying to sound respectful. They needed the money, and his back could take it. He was always sore, and stiff, but he could deal with that for now.

  “Well, I don’t want to burn out good workers either, Kai.” The harbour master cocked his head. “Only one shift tomorrow alright?” O’Brian had said.

  “But I can’t. I need –” Kai had begun to protest.

  “Lady take me!” O’Brian had cursed. “You’re a good lad, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be the one to tell Sister Maria you broke your back at my dockyard.”

  O’Brian had put his hand on Kai’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. “You work yourself too hard, son.” Then he pushed a few more coppers into his hand. Extra coppers, above what he had earned. “One shift tomorrow. You got it?”

  “Yes. Mr O’Brian. Morning or afternoon?” Kai had clenched his teeth against trying to argue further. He wasn’t going to press his luck.

  “Afternoon,” O’Brian had said, satisfied. “Don’t drink it all away now.” The harbour master winked and waved him away.

  Kai jingled the coins still in his coin pouch, thinking about the comment. Not bloody likely. He didn’t have the luxury to spend his money on ale or spirits.

  Bela, the serving girl, danced past him balancing a stack of at least ten plates. “So, Kai, are you guys going to play us anything good tonight?” She smirked playfully at him.

  He could only return a weak smile. “I think so. I’ve managed to convince Jachem that some of his ‘Jendar music’ might be a bit too advanced for everyone.”

  Bella nodded, winking conspiratorially. “Oh, yes ... advanced. Not the word I’d use, but if it’s done the trick.”

  “I think so, we’ve added a lot more traditional songs to our repertoire,” Kai said. Bella was so lovely that he always felt in a bit of a daze around her. He found his eyes drooping to her deliberately low-cut top and exposed cleavage, but then jerked his gaze back up to her eyes, trying not to blush, as she must surely have noticed. “Uh, we’ll be playing some local favourites, but with a bit of a twist. I think you’ll like it.”

  Bella smiled. “Well if you’ve picked the songs this time, I’m sure they’ll be good.” She tapped the purple top hat on his head playfully. “Good luck tonight.” She winked at him and was off, dancing her way through the crowd and managing to balance all the dishes with ease.

  Kai sighed once more over the things he couldn’t have. Pretty girls didn’t go for destitute nobodies like him. Besides, he had responsibilities that tended to discourage any social life.

  He closed the stage curtains and walked to the small dressing room. He knocked on the doorframe and ducked through. His tall frame meant he had to crouch even further than usual with the purple hat on his head to get into the tiny room. The hat was part of his costume consisting of a simple black vest which he wore over his bare chest, along with some equally garish purple trousers. But the hat had grown on him, and besides, it was what Jachem told him he had to wear. There was no arguing with his friend on things like this.

  Jachem was sitting on the small chair in front of the mirror. He had the small black Jendar device he always carried with him. Light radiated from the device, illuminating the demonic make-up Jachem wore. Soft music floated from the face of the old relic and Kai stepped in behind Jachem to watch the incredible images dance on the surface of the strange black device.

  “I still think it’s pretty amazing that you figured out how to work that thing.” Kai’s voice startled Jachem out of his revelry.

  “I
t wasn’t that hard.” Jachem’s attention didn’t wane in the slightest. Kai might as well have been invisible for the attention Jachem gave him. “The first image was a code. There was a different symbol to press first, and then the rest of the sequence had a pattern to it as well. Most of the Jendar devices I’ve seen have the same symbols on the front of them, probably a security code or something.”

  Images of the kinds of performing people on whom Jachem and Kai had styled themselves moved across the glossy surface of the Jendar relic. “I still think you should take it to the Chroniclers,” Kai said, “they might be able to tell you more about it.”

  “No. They’ll steal it from me if I did.” Jachem’s tone was abrupt and his fingers moved in a series of delicate strokes over the surface. The images winked out and Jachem hid the device back inside his jacket.

  I shouldn’t have said that. Mention of the Chroniclers’ interest in the device seemed to raise Jachem’s anxiety levels, and Kai needed his friend to be as calm as possible tonight. Performing on a stage in front of people still seemed like a stretch for Jachem – seemed like asking a fish to climb a tree. Interacting with other people was something Jachem just wasn’t good at, but he had become fixated on this idea of becoming a “superstar” just like the Jendar people on his relic.

  It made Kai almost sick to think about how hard Jachem would take it if things went badly tonight. Almost on cue, Kai’s stomach growled and he sighed inwardly. Tonight would be the last night of following this flight of fancy. They needed the money more. He would just have to deal with Jachem’s gloom afterwards.

  “Fame and glory, Kai. Fame and glory,” Jachem said far too exuberantly, and punched him on the shoulder.

  This again? Kai wondered where it was that Jachem was quoting those words from. Surely it wasn’t something he had come up with on his own? It seemed too flamboyant and assertive, and Jachem was certainly anything but flamboyant, despite the odd clothes he now wore.

  Jachem was smiling up at him, waiting for a response, apparently trying to cheer Kai up with his words.

  Kai smiled back, eliciting a satisfied grunt from Jachem, and that did make Kai smile in earnest. Not many people understood Jachem as he did. Everyone always thought Jachem weird, or crazy, or unstable, or a hundred other socially unacceptable things. But Kai knew Jachem, and Jachem was just different.

  “Okay!” He tried to reciprocate Jachem’s energy, not wanting to show how much he doubted tonight’s chances of success. “Fame and glory would be amazing, don’t get me wrong, but let’s try to focus on the moment for now, alright?”

  “The moment! But our future beckons us with open arms! Fame and glory, my close-minded friend! Riches beyond our imagination!” Jachem was so excited he was dangerously close to having a fit.

  Kai couldn’t help but chuckle at how happy he looked just then, but he knew this level of excitement was not good for his eccentric friend. “Jachem,” he said as he gently grabbed his short rotund friend by the shoulders and stared him in the eyes, “most of the people out there don’t know about Jendar music, right? These ‘superstars’, as you call them, don’t exist in our time, remember?”

  Jachem’s eyes searched his face blankly for a moment, but Kai saw him coming back down to reality. “Yes. I know that, of course,” Jachem said as his eyes darted back and forth and he once again began piecing together where he was. “We’ll just have to blow their minds with our originality, won’t we?! Then we’ll be the superstars! Kai! Us!”

  “Sure,” Kai sighed with a reassuring smile. “Now get out there, you crazy Jendar music monkey!” He gave Jachem a slap on the rump.

  Jachem burst through the curtains of the dressing onto the stage and yelled, “WOO!! ARE YOU READY?!”

  Kai sighed to himself, Here we go. He collected his drumsticks from the table, ducked through the curtain, and began whirling his sticks through his fingers as he tried to raise himself to some semblance of Jachem’s enthusiasm. He greeted a room of shocked, wide-eyed patrons frozen in half fear and half amazement by Jachem’s booming entrance. More than a few people had hands over their hearts, no doubt checking they still had a pulse after such a fright.

  Jachem had his guitar in hand already and was gyrating his hips like he’d seen the Jendar musician do in the relic. Jachem, of course, was loving his entrance, but Kai could see a woman cringing and awkwardly trying to shuffle her chair back from the stage without drawing attention to herself.

  Okay, got to save this quick. He rushed to his drums and gave the snare drum three quick smacks to get Jachem’s attention back to the task at hand. Kai assumed his starting position, with his head hanging low and his shoulder-length hair falling forward to hide his face. It was the signal for Jachem to start playing.

  "We are The Banditos!" Jachem proclaimed with a grand gesture, swinging his guitar around his body on its strap so that it did a full circle and landed back into playing position.

  Kai and Jachem shared a moment of disbelief as that was the first time Jachem had ever successfully pulled that trick off.

  Kai did a quick rimshot on the drums and symbol, and surprisingly it elicited a smattering of chuckles from the crowd, helping to warm them up.

  Not a horrible start, he thought, cautiously optimistic.

  Jachem’s smile was beginning to look slightly demented, which did actually work with their look, so Kai snapped three sharp beats on his snare drum.

  Jachem finally took the cue, and cried aloud, "And this song is called ‘The Thief’!"

  Kai slammed his drumsticks down onto the snare just as Jachem flung into furious action on his acoustic guitar. The beat of their first song was relentless and Kai quickly broke into a sweat, his black hair bouncing beneath the velvety purple hat in a mad frenzy.

  Jachem's fingers danced across the fretboard of his guitar while he strummed rapidly. The notes sang out fast and furious.

  Jachem launched into the first verse and spun the tale of a young down-and-out boy who had fallen hopelessly in love with a girl who had smiled at him to lift his spirits. The beat softened, the notes became delicate, trilling up softly up to match Jachem’s high pitch. The girl of the song was whisked away by her tyrant father and scorned for having helped a beggar.

  Kai switched to a staccato military beat as Jachem wildly gestured with his hands and sang of the conviction of the young boy. He would win the heart of the girl and save her from her evil father.

  Kai looked up at the crowd for the first time. They were hard to judge. He knew their style of music was miles from the traditional fiddle, drum, flute and accordion bands usually seen in local tavern rooms.

  There were more than a few perplexed faces among the crowd. So not quite the raucous adulation we were hoping for, he thought a bit anxiously. Yet most of the young Academy soldiers were grinning! Right, we just need to get that group going, and the rest should join in! Two Paleschurians were pumping their fists in the air, obviously enjoying things. One was a muscular, broad-shouldered young man, dressed in the local style, who sat with an older man who looked like he should be sitting on a Paleshurian warhorse in an old painting.

  The two enthusiasts gave Kai hope. Maybe this Jendar style of music could work after all! He had doubted Jachem’s conviction that the music would be a success. Maybe he’s not as crazy as he looks. Then he saw Jachem out of the corner of his eye. His friend had his guitar behind his head and was sticking his tongue out at the crowd. Nope, he’s easily that crazy.

  Jachem’s antics had a few of the young Academy initiates in stitches. They were attempting not to spill their drinks as they thumped the tables trying to suck in breaths between fits of laughter. Well, at least they’re having fun! Kai thought as his sticks hammered out the beat.

  The song ended as Jachem sang the last verse telling of the thief’s triumph in securing the heart of the beautiful girl. Everyone had gone deathly quiet.

  The seconds felt stretched into hours. Kai caught his breath, waiting for some response, any
thing to break the tortuous silence. Did I misjudge the crowd? Somebody say something!

  “YEAH!!" The young muscular Paleschurian stood up with his older friend and pumped his fist in the air. Like thunder following a lightning strike, the rest of the room roared into life. People threw back their chairs, jumped to their feet and bellowed their approval.

  “Yes!” Kai pointed at the young Paleschurian with his drumstick, giving him a quick salute. This was the excitement they wanted to inspire! I owe that guy a drink!

  He laughed as he thought he saw a tear in Jachem's eye.

  "Right! Well if you liked that one, here's a new take on an old favourite, ‘Pirates of the Old Sesquan’!" Jachem's caterpillar-like eyebrows worked overtime as he tried to pump up the crowd by playing the role of a madman. Use what you know, Kai thought, and Jachem knows crazy like no one else.

  Kai stopped thinking and let himself get lost in the music, the beat of his drums filling him entirely, and soon everyone was thumping their tables in time with his beats.

  The night began to blur into a riotous party.

  Song after song, Kai and Jachem blared forth and the crowd rose to the challenge, drinking, dancing and becoming rowdier with each verse.

  Most of their songs went over well. A few didn’t get quite the applause that their opening couple had, but everyone was happy and having a good time. Kai was immersed in his music. There was nothing that made him happier than thumping the taut skins of his drums and getting lost in the beat. The music touched his heart and then passed on to join a glorious chorus, so immense it was almost unfathomable. When he was laying down a beat with his drumsticks dancing in his fingers, it felt as if he could almost touch the great symphony of the world around him.

  All too suddenly, Hanson gave them the cut-off signal, and with a sad smile on his face Kai put down his drumsticks. His corded muscles were shaking in his arms and only then did he realise he was exhausted, but still he wanted nothing more than to keep playing. If only this night could last forever. He held up his index finger to Hanson and mouthed, “One more?”