by Justin Sloan
A growl came from nearby and he turned to see a raised ax about to take out his head. He heard the swoosh of an arrow as it narrowly missed his ear and landed in the remnant’s chest, sending it staggering back.
Alastar spun to see Kim with her bow and arrow, then Lars charged through with his war hammer to smash the remnant’s head in. Estair joined Kim, bow and arrow in hand, and the two loosed more arrows into the woods.
“Save some for us, ladies,” Lars requested with a boisterous laugh.
To see that they hadn’t retreated but were instead fighting at his side gave Alastar great hope for these lands. Even though they were from the Kaldfall Peninsula and had been rescued from a shipwreck on Sair Talem, they were quickly becoming some of Alastar’s favorite people. Especially when they saved his life.
More smoke cleared the farther they went into the trees, and soon there were no more remnant to hunt. They had all either been killed or escaped.
“Wish we’d had you back in Sair Talem,” Lars said, then nodded at the approaching forms of Crete and Andreas. “You’re too late for the fight.”
“You missed one,” Crete said, holding up a bloodied sword as proof.
“If you are done comparing bloodied swords,” Summers said, “I’d like to get moving before that pompous arse shows up.” He’d approached from behind the latest two with his guard close behind, some stabbing fallen remnant to ensure they were dead.
“Pompous…who?” Alastar asked.
“He means me,” a new voice said, and they all turned to the edge of the tree line to see a newcomer and a small army of men and women had apparently made their way around the fire to find them. “Looks like you all did most of the dirty work.”
“As always, Lokane,” Summers said.
The rest of the two camps were catching up, and Alastar couldn’t help but notice how each side stayed separated on the sides of the valley, with only the few in the center who had been with him when Summers arrived.
Apparently these two clans weren’t on friendly terms.
“One of my allies says he has a small girl to thank for rescuing him,” Lokane stated, eying them suspiciously. “I’m having a hard time understanding that.”
“Clearly you haven’t met Kia,” Estair said, stepping forward and nodding Kia’s direction.
“I see my former Master of War has gone over to the other side,” Lokane said, eyeing her cautiously.
“If you mean I’m with my uncle fighting for survival of our land and all innocent people, you’re right. I hope that isn’t ‘the other side’ of where you’ve ended up.”
Lokane laughed, shaking his head. “Is that any way to greet me?” He stepped forward and everyone tensed, but he spread his arms wide and Estair went to him to be embraced. “It’s good to see you again.”
She stepped back and turned to Alastar. “You remember Laird Lokane from when we first met?”
“And from a shared drink,” Alastar said with a friendly smile and a nod. “Laird Lokane, how is Leila?”
“We left a group of warriors to keep the others safe, and she insisted on remaining with them.”
“And you?” Summers asked. “What brings you this far south?”
“I could ask the same of you,” Lokane replied, “but I won’t, since your presence here confirms the rumors we set out to settle. An invading force? You’ve been forced out of the manor?”
Summers nodded, eyes still narrowed.
Alastar glanced at his sister where she stood by Donnon, looking totally relaxed. If she was at ease, he was sure there was nothing to worry about between these two. After all, Estair was the niece of Laird Summers and the former Master of War of Laird Lokane.
It was time to get down to business.
“How many warriors have you brought?” Alastar asked Lokane. “And what type?”
Lokane smiled, apparently appreciating the idea of getting down to business. “No more than fifty, mostly simple soldiers but about twenty that make up a good mixture of wind and water mages.”
“That’ll do.” Alastar turned to Summers and waited.
After an awkward pause Summers cleared his throat and said, “Yes, well, we’re heading for Stirling. Hoping to retake the fortress.”
“Then we’ll go with you,” Lokane replied. “As much as we’ve had our differences in the past, there’s one thing I hope we can both agree on. The past is the past, and the future of this land depends on us all cooperating.”
Summers nodded curtly, then glanced around one more time before saying, “Meet us at the top of this hill. We’ll break camp and be on our way from there.”
“Deal.”
As they started making their way back, Alastar caught up with Rhona and Donnon.
“Is this a blessing or a curse?” he asked.
Donnon chuckled. “As long as there’s an outside enemy, I think they’ll be able to work together. The minute that goes away, we’ll see.”
“Under that assumption—with us winning—I’ll take it.”
“I seem to be missing the conflict here,” Rhona said.
“You’re not the only one,” Kia chimed in.
Donnon glanced at his daughter, then shook his head. “Too mature of a topic for your ears, dear. Just know that many of the clans have had their issues with one another. It often relates to certain members leaving one clan for another, sometimes relating to an affair.”
“So there was a love triangle situation?” Kia asked.
“Again, not for your ears.”
She shrugged, walking ahead of them and starting to climb the hill with ease.
Donnon sighed. “She’s growing up too fast.”
“Losing your mom and being in the forefront in a fight against sorcerers trying to conquer your land will do that,” Rhona stated.
“I suppose so. She’s right, though. That was the basics of it, and how Estair ended up in Lokane’s clan for a while, too. Her father and Lokane—”
“Wait, her…father?” Alastar was confused.
Donnon nodded, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh, wow.” Rhona laughed. “Interesting.”
“Interesting indeed. So it was mostly a pride thing for Summers, who didn’t see his brother to be the sword-clashing type, or at least not in that way.”
“What a stupid reason to hold a grudge,” Rhona stated. “I mean, get over yourself already, right?”
Donnon agreed and Alastar nodded. Funny, though, that not long ago, under the roof of the paladins, he would’ve likely been on the opposite side of this argument. Now he didn’t know what to think, but he certainly didn’t want to judge others when he now knew he understood so little of the world.
“To each their own,” he commented. “As long as we team up and kill those invaders or at least push them from our land, I couldn’t care less.”
Indeed, they were now fifty warriors stronger, which meant their chances of retaking Stirling were that much more likely.
A glance at the men and women in Summers’ camp when they were all assembled again showed that the small victory against the remnant had been good for morale. They all looked ready to take on the world.
The clatter of armor signaled the approach of Lokane’s forces, and as they came up the hill to join them, Alastar had to admit he was impressed. If this could continue, if they could assemble a strong force and move on the sorcerers, they might actually win this thing.
But it would take a whole lot more people than they currently had.
Suddenly a sound erupted nearby and everyone turned, hands on swords, to find the mystic, Volney spluttering awake. He sat up, wiping drool from his mouth and looked around, then nudged Larick at his side. Larick stirred, opened his eyes, and eyed the new arrivals with curiosity.
“Something tells me we’ve missed something,” he said.
Volney nodded slowly, stood, and then smiled. “Well, would someone like to fill us in on the way, or should we just read your minds?”
Alastar la
ughed, walking over to help Larick up. “Don’t worry, I got this,” he said over his shoulder to a very flustered Summers. The two mystics were quite helpful in a fight, but could apparently sleep through anything. The others hadn’t thought to wake them, but at least this time they hadn’t needed their help.
CHAPTER SIX
Lannis still couldn’t believe his luck. Not only was he free, but he was traveling with these seven paladins, who seemed committed to getting him where he needed to go.
Right now, he needed to go where Kia was, to ensure she was safe.
Why they were helping him he still didn’t quite understand, but he got why they had abandoned the others. From their conversations, he understood that these paladins hadn’t understood what they were getting into under Sir Gildon. They’d had no idea that they would be working alongside outsiders, sorcerers who followed some crazy self-proclaimed goddess.
They had rested briefly, at which point Lannis had woken, fully recovered. Then they walked most of the day in the direction Lannis told them. They otherwise had no idea where to start, what to do. It seemed the only thing they were clear on was that they didn’t want to be aligned with whatever some paladin named Taland was up to.
Now they were passing an old graveyard on a hill, a crumbling church, and ruins where a village had once stood. Fog drifted along the tops of the trees, and a slow and steady wind caused the branches to sway gently, the leaves rippling as if the foliage were a pond.
Lannis was glad they’d been smart enough to grab food from the cellar on their way out, even if it was only stale salted mutton. Hey, he’d take that any day over trying to catch something in the wild and then having to figure out how to skin it and all that.
“Hold,” Bale said, a hand out to the others to keep them from advancing. He crept forward.
Lannis paused for a moment, then darted forward to join the paladin. Bale gave him an annoyed glance, but only held a finger to his mouth and motioned for him to stay close.
At the edge of the shadows they paused, staring in disbelief.
“Is that a…?” Lannis started in a hushed, awed whisper.
“A unicorn.” Bale bit his lip, eyes full of disbelief. “No, it can’t be. Magic, maybe?”
Lannis narrowed his eyes, watching as the unicorn, as that was the only way he could describe the perfectly white horse with the horn on its brow, lifted its head from eating grass and turned to stare right at them.
“I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in my life, but nothing like this.” Bale sucked his teeth, then shrugged. “But honestly… Why not, right?”
“You think unicorns actually exist?” Lannis asked doubtfully.
“Hey, you have your wind magic. Maybe someone has magic that turns animals into magical beasts.”
“Or…a mystic.”
“What’s that?”
“Just, a couple of guys I met,” Lannis replied. “Called themselves mystics, and they had the power to mess with your mind. If they wanted you to see a unicorn, you saw a unicorn.”
“Aye, that could be…”
Bale had glanced over and suddenly stopped talking, eyes wide. A moment later, Lannis understood why, when he felt metal on his neck and heard a female voice say, “Everything you have, or the boy learns to smile from the neck.”
Bale frowned, then licked his lips before asking, “Smile from the neck?”
A frustrated grunt came from the woman, and then the blade pricked Lannis’ neck and he felt a drop of blood trickle down.
Forget this, he thought, and summoned Stormy. As the wind spirit flickered into the attackers face and startled her, Lannis reached up and pushed her sword arm away, ducking and maneuvering back around his attacker’s legs, then pushing her knee out so she fell in a kneeling position.
In a flash of an eye Bale had his own sword out, knocked hers aside, and placed his blade at her throat. At the sound of it the other paladins came running, so that now the woman was surrounded by the seven paladins and the boy.
“Well, bollocks,” the woman said, assessing her predicament with growing fear.
“Is that a unicorn?” Gerin asked, and the others saw it now too, muttering in amazement.
For a moment they all stood there in silence admiring the beauty of the beast, until the woman suddenly burst into laughter. She rolled across the ground, laughing and holding her stomach, pointing at them in turn.
“You…you actually…” She laughed some more. “Oh, this is rich. You all bought it? Wow, talk about…” She lost the next few words in a fit of laughter, until Gerin held out his sword too. That caught her attention and she stopped, hands up.
“What’s gotten into you?” Gerin asked.
“It’s not a real unicorn,” the lady said, then bit her lip to keep from laughing again. “You all are grown men. You oughtta know there’s no such thing.”
Lannis chuckled now too. He had almost believed it as well, but now that she’d called them on it, he thought it was pretty funny.
“Shut up,” Gerin said to him, and then marched over to the unicorn, or horse. The horse started, moving back, and a moment later the woman had sprung up and was at its side, patting the horse’s neck and whispering something in her ear.
Gerin had a chance to inspect the horn, and chuckled. “Aye, it’s fake. Tied on.”
“Just for fun,” the lady told them, then she hopped onto the horse’s back and was about to ride away until Gerin grabbed her by the back of her loose jerkin and pulled her off. She landed on the grass with a thud, followed by a groan of pain.
“Hey!” Lannis said, stepping forward. “Take it easy!”
“She just threatened your life!” Gerin replied, then turned to Bale for support.
“I agree with the kid,” Bale said, “but I also don’t think she should be allowed to just ride off after trying to rob us at sword point.”
Lannis put a hand to his neck and looked on the blood on his finger when he pulled it away. Now that they mentioned it, he was kind of annoyed about that. He stepped over to the woman and eyed her.
“What’s your story?” he asked.
She frowned, looking around at the others. “This one’s the boss, is that it?”
Bale chuckled, thought about it, and nodded. “Actually, right now it’s not too far from the truth.”
“Explain,” she commanded.
He shook his head. “You first.”
She sat up with a sigh, running her hands through her hair, and then gestured at the crumbling church. “See that place? That’s my home. I’ve been surviving there for a while now, since bandits took my home and the lives of my family.”
“Damn,” Gerin commented, lowering his sword.
“And the unicorn?” Bale asked.
She smiled and shrugged. “A lady’s gotta find some way to keep herself from going insane. I find mine in humor.”
“And the bandits? Your village?”
She eyed him, then pointed to the charred remains of a house not far off. “This was it, actually. I made my escape on the back of Uni here,” she stood and patted the horse again, but took a step back from her at Gerin’s sword motion. “Then I came back, ready to die fighting them, even though I didn’t know much about fighting. Found them all in various states of intoxication and undress, and…well, introduced them to their maker.”
Bale let out a low whistle. “I like it.”
Lannis scratched his eyebrow, then noticed a fly moving on his left shoulder and swatted it away. “You burned ‘em all alive?”
“Aye, and I’d do it a thousand times over for what they did to me and mine.”
“Then you don’t sound like the type we’d want on our bad side.” Bale turned to the other paladins. “Wouldn’t you agree, boys?”
A couple of them nodded, some said, “Aye.”
Bale considered her a moment, then said, “How’d you like to be part of civilization again? Or, to the extent that civilization exists at all, at least be around other people again.
”
“I think I’d like that,” she replied, “depending on the people and what their intentions were.”
“Come on, then.”
No movement. She stared at them, then frowned, then laughed. “Seven men want a lone woman to come with them, just like that? You’re out of your damn minds.”
“What’s the problem?” Lannis asked, confused. “And that’s seven men and one almost-man.”
She chuckled and gave him a condescending smile. “That’s cute, kid, but I think you missed the point here.”
He shrugged and turned to Bale to deal with this.
“Listen, lady…”
“Rose,” the woman said.
“Really?”
“No, but I don’t feel like giving you my real name, so Rose it is.”
Bale frowned, licked his lips, and started again. “Listen, Rose, what you have here are seven men who happen to be paladins.” He pulled the black robes off to reveal his shining white armor, gesturing for the others to do the same. “That means chaste men, men who have sworn oaths. Whatever it is you’re thinking right now, whatever it is you might worry about in regards to seven men, I can assure you it is not a concern in this situation.”
She leaned back, sniffled as if allergies were bothering her, and then gave them a curt nod.
“Fine. Assuming what you say is true and that you are chaste paladins, not just pretenders, I can hope that the presence of this boy means you all aren’t evil, at least.”
“Well, thank you,” Gerin said, sarcastically. “I’m glad you don’t think we’re evil.” He turned to Bale. “It’s not like we have to take her, right?”
“I’ll go, I’ll go,” Rose replied. “I mean, it’s not like my other options are much better.”
“And if she burns us all in our sleep?” one of the other paladins asked, one whose name Lannis hadn’t caught.
“If all this talk of being chaste is true, you won’t have to worry,” Rose replied.
Bale shook his head, clearly unsure what he’d gotten himself into, but added, “We’d have to keep an eye on her even if that wasn’t the case, I hope you realize.”
