Dakeb calmly finished his spiced cider and covered a belch. The winds howled a little fiercer, desperately trying to bring down the walls of Ipn Shal.
“I must leave you for the time being. Finish your meals and enjoy this reunion. We head to Gren when the storm breaks.”
Hope had once again taken root in the fortress of Mages.
FORTY-SEVEN
It took another full day before the storm dwindled enough to let them leave Ipn Shal. The mood inside the fortress was changed. Reunions were over and it was time for business. They packed their bags and loaded the horses. Tactics and strategies were discussed with interest, for they knew Gren was not going to be forgiving. With the storm gone, they knew it was only a matter of time before Dakeb led them out.
Hallis found the old Mage standing on a snow swept balcony overlooking the courtyard just before dawn. Only a light sprinkle of flurries drifted lazily by. Dakeb had an oddity about him, as if there were a void of life or death.
“What troubles you?” Hallis asked.
“It would be easier to explain what doesn’t bother me. The timing of this doesn’t make sense to me. Why do you suppose he sent his armies forward when he doesn’t have possession of the fourth shard?”
Hallis stood and watched the dawn break. “He must be searching for it. He has to think he’s close to finding it too if matters have gone as far as you say. That would ex-plain the continuous attacks by Gnaals.”
Dakeb turned on him with eyebrows raised. “Would it? I believe there is something more sinister to it. Did you know that the Gnaals were once mages? He discovered a dark lure and changed their very souls, twisting them into the ruin they are today. When he dies, so will they.” He paused for a moment. “These boys will need your protection, Hallis. They look to you for advice and as a role model. We are entering a dangerous part of the journey. The Silver Mage grows stronger the closer we get to Winter’s Day. Even I may not be able to stop him in time.”
Hallis didn’t really want to hear a confession like that from the one man they were trusting to see them through the darkness, but he understood the reasoning. He’d lost track of how many times through the years and different campaigns, sitting alone in his tent or pulling guard in the middle of the night, he felt the same. Soldiering was a difficult and often loathsome business that demanded a constant strain of the mind and body. He’d done his share of killing, but never came to take pleasure from it. Hallis killed only in the name of defense and his country.
Friendships were short in his line of work. More often than not they ended abruptly. People came and went too fast to remember. A military career wasn’t for everyone, in fact only one in twenty decided to make it a lifestyle. A goodly number of those seldom made it longer than five years. Hallis made the mistake of befriending several men over the course of his career and most of them were dead now.
All in all, he had relatively few regrets in life. He had friends sprinkled here and there. A few he even managed to keep track of when he wasn’t deployed or on campaign. It was Chella who kept him healthy and sane. Without her his loneliness would have finished him off already. She was by far the stronger of the two. She had to be. Hallis made a promise to himself that this was it. One way or the other he was going home to his wife for good when this quest finished. But he had to see to the security of Delin and Fennic first. Without them the dream of Averon was ended.
“My sword is theirs for as long as they need it,” he finally told the mage.
He wanted to ask Dakeb what would happen if they simply held the stone here until after Winter’s Day but the answer was painfully obvious. Sidian would come for them in force and wouldn’t stop until they were all destroyed. Going to Aingaard and destroying the crystal first seemed the only way to keep the Silver Mage off guard. Even then it was only a small glimmer of hope.
“Good,” Dakeb replied. “Now come. I believe it is time for us to leave. It has been so long since I was last on a grand adventure.”
“I pray we live to enjoy the tales of it,” Hallis said with a stone voice.
So do I, Dakeb silently agreed
“We’re really going to do this?” Tarren asked after mounting her horse. She’d come so far with one thought in her mind and now that it was accomplished she didn’t know what to do. The one thing she did know was that she wasn’t letting Delin get away from her ever again. Delin reached over and gently squeezed her hand for strength.
Clearing his throat, Norgen said, “best we get this over with now.”
“Indeed,” Dakeb said as both he and Hallis entered the stables. “Time is now as much our foe as the Silver Mage. Make no mistake, friends. There can be no hesitation when the time comes. We must strike the head if we are to win the day.”
“Let’s go,” Hallis said. “We have a long road to travel if we’re to arrive in Gren on time.” He mounted his horse and led them from the ruins of Ipn Shal.
One by one they filed out of the stables and over the shattered drawbridge. The sun was blindingly bright on the pure snow, a stark contrast to the imposed darkness of the old fortress. It was a pleasant enough change made more so by wisps of fading clouds barely gracing the blue sky. The air was suddenly warm again, not enough to enjoy a day outside, but enough to take the chill off until dusk. Ice and snow covered the landscape. Icicles dripped from the fangs of the stone gargoyles and windowsills. Tarren looked at the world with fresh eyes. For the first time life held a certain beauty she’d never noticed.
“It’s almost a shame we’re leaving. This place must be gorgeous in the spring,” she said to Dakeb.
The old Mage pulled his hood over his head and whispered, “once upon a time.”
Scarn was the last to leave the ruins. He held the trail of the formation like he’d seen the other rangers doing before. But mostly he hung back because he needed to think. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to use his anonymity. The girl was a problem and it troubled him to great lengths. A voice in the back of his head whispered dark plans for her. So Scarn plotted and waited for his chance to strike.
Dakeb turned one last time from atop his roan stallion to gaze upon his ancient home. Memories rushed by him. He remembered the foundations being laid and the walls rising higher with the passing days. Children played and sang from the nearby village. Elves and Dwarves visited for advice and wisdom. People of all races came to see if they had the gift of mage blood. But those days were gone now. Empty windows stared back down on him, featureless eyes haunting his every movement. Mocking centuries of failure laughed at him. Dakeb and Sidian were the last of their breed and Dakeb had little doubt Malweir would be better off with both of them gone. He suddenly longed to be with his old friends again. The burning in his heart for the loved ones lost was almost too much at times. Hundreds died for the satisfaction of a fallen brother gone mad. Dakeb cursed the paths that led them to this moment in time.
Winds gripped a partially rotted shutter, forcibly slamming it against the stone wall and an already broken window. Life was gone from Ipn Shal. It had become a hall for vagrant spirits and cobwebs. The knowledge buried inside was dangerous and much more than Malweir was ready to handle. Dakeb wished Thellios were there to offer his counsel on the matter. The problem of the great libraries had to be addressed. But Thellios and all the rest were no more than spirits and fading memories in an aging man.
“Everything all right?” Hallis asked.
Dakeb smiled weakly. “Yes.”
Hallis nodded once and rode on. He left Dakeb to deal with his own miseries. They had five days to reach the morbid throne of Gren and end Sidian’s threat. Between them and success lay a slew of obstacles, the least of which being a series of rolling foothills and a great swamp bordering Gren. The ten of them filed out into the wild. Dakeb hoped the Silver Mage wouldn’t learn of them too soon, for he had agents in every land, from Antheneon to the deserts of Jebel. His darkness was spilling into the west, poisoning and corrupting the weak minded.
Steam rose from the sheets of ice blanketing Thuil Lake. The storm left over a foot of ice on the lake and huge snow drifts everywhere else. Thick pine trees littered the land in their eternal green. Clumps of ice and snow weighed the branches down, adding a depressed feel to the day. Black squirrels with fluffed white tails darted among the boughs, pausing occasionally to peer down on the invaders of their territory.
Tarren looked up at the tiny trickles of snow coming down and smiled. She felt her cheeks burn from the wind and her nose was slightly numb despite the intermittent sunlight poking through. She watched her breath come out in heavy plumes of steam. Her fingertips, lodged deep within fur lined gloves, were getting colder. It didn’t take long for the comforts of Ipn Shal to fade from her memory. But this time the hardships of winter travel didn’t bother her so much. She had Delin and he was her pillar of strength. She honestly wouldn’t know what to do without him.
The very thought of Delin brought a smile. She watched the way his curly hair framed his round face. His eyes were captivating, holding a love so deep and clear. Tarren had no doubt they were meant for each other. She confided her feelings in her mother not too long ago and her mother hugged her tightly and cried. It’s love, her mother said, and no better feeling is there in all the world. Whatever destiny the Fates had in store, she was glad they would meet it together.
He was as much her strength as she was his. Weeks of loneliness on the road served to intensify his feelings towards her. That first night in Ipn Shal was almost a dream. They embraced and never let go. It was the first time they’d made love and both were awkward and hesitant in their excitement. Eventually they fell asleep in each others arms.
It pained Delin to watch her suffer with the rest of them. She deserved better and he knew he couldn’t give it to her, not now. He’d promised Fennic to see this matter through and he aimed to keep his word. He laughed to himself. All they had to do was destroy the most powerful man in all Malweir and escape a land teeming with Goblins and worse. He caught her looking at him and blushed. Tarren did her best to stifle a giggle.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, his hopes of his embarrassment going unnoticed quickly faded.
“Did you ever think we’d be weeks from home in the company of so many strange folk marching into the very heart of darkness?” she asked to quickly change the subject rather than explain her amusement.
He confessed. “I’ve always dreamed of taking off like this to find my own adventures. You know that. The stories of the old times did it I think. If you only knew how I longed to ride into battle and be the hero. The glory, the fame. There was a time when I found it all intoxicating, but no more. My own adventures are dark and filled with nightmares. I don’t wish them on anyone, Tarren. I just want to go home now.”
“I never wanted to leave to begin with. Momma always said you boys were going to get me into trouble one day,” she said with a sly grin. “You’ve taken me halfway around the world, Delin and I’m not going to let you get away again. There’s only one way you can fix this mess.”
He was almost afraid to ask. “How’s that?”
“Take me home and never leave my side again.” The finality in her voice left little room for doubt. Delin’s heart swelled with joy.
Dakeb called a halt as the sun was dropping over the far horizon. He held hast conference with them all. Hallis and the Elves left to scout the surrounding areas while the others made a hasty camp. Dakeb waited until they returned with negative reports before letting them start a small cook fire. They ate in relative silence, intent on the heat of the almost timid flames licking at them. Most of them listened to the forests. Every crack or snap was a potential foe. Caution was their greatest ally now.
“How long will we be stopping for each night?” Fennic asked.
“Long enough to eat and relieve yourselves,” Dakeb said. “I want to get into the foothills before we stop today at least. Remember Fennic, time is against us.”
A wolf bayed in the distance.
“Do not fear them. With as many enemies as we have, the wolves may be counted as friends,” Dakeb said when he noticed Delin shiver from the sound.
Soon enough they were saddled up and weaving through the land. The smallest sliver of moon shone down in the chill night. Level ground began to give way to rolling slopes and ravines. Scrub brush and boulders were looming shadows in the half light. They’d finally reached the foot hills, and the boundary with Gren.
FORTY-EIGHT
The moon crept higher into the night sky, almost gaining its zenith before Dakeb called a halt for the night. Hallis and the Elves immediately left to recon the area. Dakeb reasoned that this close to Gren meant Sidian had wards in place to warn him of invaders. They set camp atop a snow covered knoll just high enough to make it difficult for attackers to reach them in time and not give the defenders too much of a silhouette. The high ground wouldn’t be a deterrent for the frenzied Goblins, but it would at least delay them enough for the small group to flee. The horses were tethered to a stand of white birch trees. Hallis set the guard schedule and one by one they bedded down and went to sleep.
There was no fire that night. Smoke and open flames traveled far in the chill winter air and would be an open invitation to the monsters in this part of the land. It was Dakeb’s hope that they’d reach Aingaard undetected. That’s when their troubles would begin. Cheap disguises and petty tricks wouldn’t prevent Sidian from finding and capturing them. Any use of magic was a dead giveaway. Not for the first time did Dakeb find his powers to be more damnation than gift. The dilemma kept the old mage awake for the rest of the night. He had to find a way to breech Sidian’s defenses before it was too late. As it stood now, there were only four and a half days remaining until the time of the ceremony.
The Elves were the last to return and once the last arrived they began quietly discussing what they’d seen with Hallis and Dakeb.
“We found nothing to the south,” Derlith told the mage.
“Nor to the east,” Llem, the third Elf said.
Dakeb found his report surprising considering east was the direction they were heading.
“That doesn’t make sense. We’ll enter Gren tomorrow,” Hallis said. “I doubt the Silver Mage will leave an open avenue into his lands.”
“Unless they’re expecting us,” Celegon said. “I saw signs about a half league back. We’re being tracked.”
Hallis nodded grimly. “I saw the same to the north. The enemy knows we are moving again.”
“Then they will attack soon,” Derlith added. His almond eyes pierced the surrounding darkness for signs of the enemy.
“Perhaps not,” Hallis offered.
“Why wouldn’t they? Sidian has to know by now the threat we pose. He may not know where the fourth shard is, but he will have learned of the Star Silver sword by now. He must have spies and legions out searching for us by now,” Celegon said.
Dakeb finally spoke up. “That would imply trust in his subordinates. Sidian has none of that. He knows he stole Gren and there are many who would seek to supplant him as the dictator. His rule of fear and terror has seen to that. We are being followed, yes, and watched closely. Perhaps he even has a spy within our own ranks.”
“I’ve felt the same since finding those Gnaals hunting you south of the Old Forest. Someone had to be leading them,” Celegon told them. “The noose is tightening.”
“The ranger doesn’t feel right to me, Dakeb,” he went on. “I’ve met some of the rangers of Averon. Something tells me this man is not who he pretends to be.”
“We’ve kept a steady watch on him since that first night, but he’s shown no signs of treachery yet,” Derlith said. “Say the word and it will be my pleasure to make him talk now.”
He ran a long finger down the rune etched blade of his dagger.
“No,” Dakeb ordered. “Make no move against him. If he is working for Sidian we don’t want to tip our hand just yet. Keep watching him from a distance and
when the time comes we shall be in place to deal with him. Keep a close watch on the Goblins tracking us. Part of me thinks they’re driving us in the direction they want us to go. We are fortunate not to have a Gnaal too close right now.”
“The Gnaal is far behind,” Celegon announced. “I saw a dark taint in the ground where his tracks were. How many there are I do not know. They clearly are in fear of the boy and his sword. We need to use that to our advantage.”
“Do we circle back and try to kill it?” Llem asked nervously.
He was afraid of the beasts, and for good reason. No one should ever witness the horrors of what he saw during the battle at the Old Forest. There’d been times in the
days since he felt sure death was stalking him. The fear nagged at the back of his mind, haunting his actions. It whispered to him to give up while the choice remained his.
“We avoid the Gnaal as best as possible,” Celegon told his friend. “There’s no sense in risking everything until we get closer to Aingaard. Those boys are our biggest asset and it would be ill to use them uselessly against a foe with night unlimited resources.”
“Agreed,” Hallis said. “I say we march on as planned. We can’t stop and fight every detachment of Goblins along the way.”
“Get some rest now, friends,” Dakeb told them. “I will stand the watch, for there is much I need to think on tonight. We break camp before the dawn.”
His gaze lingered to where the three villagers from obscure Fel Darrins slept. That’s when he noticed Tarren and Scarn were both missing.
Tarren shivered as she pulled her trouser back up and laced them. The night was much colder than she remembered. Then again, she’d never been so far north in the winter. Either way, the chilled buried to her bones. Tightening her cloak, Tarren headed back to Delin and her sleeping bag. The moon turned the world around her to a shimmering dream of a pale enchantment. She remembered being a little girl and sneaking out of the house on nights the moon was full. She’d count the stars until sleep took her. Her parents knew she did because she always woke up tucked into her bed the next morning. She wished she were home again. As far away from the war as possible.
Armies of the Silver Mage Page 28
