Death Or Fortune

by James Chesney

  As we followed Ramanthus across the court yard, he called forward for the men at the gate to open up. We were going outside of the Spire to wait for the dragon Sa'tilix. None of us spoke, when I did try to ask a question I was given a quick hard glance from the wizard and told to be quiet. He was trying to listen for the beast to approach. We stood out there for more than three hours, watching Ramanthus pace on the rocky ground. 'He should have been here by now.' he would mutter. This was quickly followed by 'something is wrong. Do you feel anything through your bond General?’ Malkov could only shake his head. The dragon was not coming and he did not know why. 'Come back to the tower with me, now!' Once again we were dragged up the tower steps trying to keep pace with the mad man.

  Lomark was standing close to the rod, just looking at it. Zender was sitting on the floor, lost in prayer. 'The dragon did not come, I have to travel to their lair in order to make sure they are alright. Malkov will go with me. He has bonded with Sa'tilix and he will not attack if Malkov is with me.' Malkov started to protest. 'My lord, we have to pay the men today. I cannot put it off any longer, First Sergeant Willis has been after me all day.' Ramanthus just waved a hand at the man. 'Lord Kromwell can handle this minor thing. Now I must open the portal. It will take a few hours before I can make another portal. I did not expect this today. We will return before midnight provided the dragon gives us no trouble.' I watched as Lomarks eyes narrowed to slits, this was something new to him. New magic, it was almost more than he could resist. He watched everything Ramanthus did and said, every little thing. When the silver spot appeared in the air I thought I was seeing things. As it grew, the wind in the room started to pick up. Soon a mirror like surface hung in the air, it looked like Jasmin's mirror in our bedroom at home. Only all I saw in this mirror was darkness and then for a quick moment I thought I saw trees. 'Continue to make ready, Lord Kromwell tell the First Sergeant to make sure the men are paid tonight. Remember, my warnings young wizard.' I nodded my head and bowed at the waist. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. We all then watched as Ramanthus and Malkov entered the portal and stood there watching until it closed.

  'Interesting, very interesting.' Lomark said 'I think he just solved one of our problems for us. I could hear his words but I did not see what component he used, I need to find his spell book with that spell. Leave me be, I have little time.' Zender looked at the wizard as he started to paw through the bookshelves and asked if he was sure he could cast the spell. He turned his head and only said 'Perhaps.' I asked Zender then just what we were going to do. 'I will not leave all these men here to die, only to become part of Xcavere's army. We need to make them leave. We will tell this First Sergeant that he is to march his men away from here or they will all die at the hands of Xcavere, which is the truth. I will also tell them that Ramanthus just left here with the gold they were supposed to be paid in order to appease the dragons. While this is a small lie, everyone knows the dragon did not answer his summons. Most mercenaries will not die for free, they should leave.' I was stunned to say the least. Such a simple plan, I sometimes wonder just what he would have done in this world had he tried to be more than just a priest. If things went well, by the time Ramanthus returned the spire would be empty and the rod would be gone. I could find no fault in the plan. As the three of us were headed back down the stairs I really thought it was going to work. That is what I get for thinking.

  62. Priest

  Over the course of my adventuring life, most of the problems I had encountered never really required much thought on my part beyond hit it harder. While that is a rather simple statement it isn't far from the truth. I was rather pleased to let Zender take charge, to leave all the plans to him. He had not done anything to make me doubt him. I also can't blame him for what happened next. We had all forgotten about them. When Michaels told all of us the story, he told us they were here. After leaving the tower Zackary headed off to find First Sergeant Willis. Zender and I headed towards the home of Ramanthus. We were to wait there for Willis to come and Zender wanted to summon all the servants, to tell them to leave with the army. While I wanted to believe these people would listen to him and get ready to leave, none of them would budge. These people all believed in Ramanthus and when Zackary returned with Willis, he also refused to believe a word that was said. He demanded to know where Ramanthus was and he would not do a single thing until he spoke with him.

  ‘You have to believe me sir, Ramanthus left here with General Malkov only moments ago. We are leaving as well, Xcavere’s army will be here soon, if you do not get your men marching, they will all die, then continue serve the lich for all eternity as undead soldiers. You have a day at the most if you wait any longer than that everyone here will die.’ Zender was getting close to his breaking point. I could see the frustration building on his face. Willis refused to believe that Lord Ramanthus would leave them all behind, without giving them what he promised. It was then that I knew I had to do something. I had to do something Zender wouldn’t; I had to hit him just a little bit harder. I grabbed Willis and slammed him into a wall, holding him in place. I felt bad about it but I had to make the man listen. I told him that the wizard was gone, that the General was gone along with all the gold. That even if Ramanthus returned, they would still all die. That he and his men were nothing more than a disposable shield for Ramanthus to do his magic. He expected them to all die anyway and that was why they were not being paid. I let the man go and stepped away to watch his face.

  ‘I knew the plan, long before you got here. He told us that if any of us died, he would be able to return us to life with the Rod he had the dragons steal.’ Zackary started laughing and spit out some string gibberish that even I couldn’t understand. I then asked Willis if he knew why my friends and I were allowed to enter the White Spire. ‘He told me that your wizard friend was powerful and that the priest was a sign from the good god that Solarth approved. He told all of us this while you were still outside the walls.’ I almost wanted to join Zackary in his ongoing laughing fit. I told him that the reason we were allowed to enter was rather simple, Ramanthus didn’t know how to use the Rod but Lomark did. Zender then told Willis that Ramanthus could not use the Rod of the Arcane to return a man to life, only to raise an army of undead. This made Willis think, most men in his line of work know death will come to them sooner rather than later. Yet no one wants to think of being turned into some kind of undead monster. ‘I will speak to the men. If Lord Ramanthus does not return by the time the sun sets on the Spire, we will leave. Only after we empty the vaults in the basement below.’ Willis then looked to the gathered servants. ‘You are welcome to travel with my men and I when we leave but I will not wait.’ This sent the servants into a panic and running off to different parts of the house. Once everyone was gone again, Zender sent Zackary out to keep an eye on things in the courtyard. ‘Darmot and I are going to find this vault, try to warn us if things get out of hand.’

  We found the stairs down to the cellar outside at the back of the house, when we opened the door a smell rolled out. It was the stench of death. I shook it off and started down the stairs only to have Zender grab me and hold me back. 'Something isn't right, I feel something, be careful.' I took a look back at him, his face was hard, almost looked like he was in pain. I took a step back from the stairs, asking him if he was alright. He nodded his head and said he would be fine. I told him to wait and I would go look around. He took hold of his medallion of Solarth and waved at me. I figured this was him telling me to go on ahead. Ignoring the smell I pressed on and headed down the stairs. Almost the entire cellar was open. I saw the vault door right away, what I didn't see were the three other men sitting down there. I started towards the vault door and when I heard the voice coming from behind me I stopped to look around. 'Oh look brothers, we have guest. Where is Ramanthus, no one ever comes down here without him.' Looking at the three men dressed in black robes I could guess why. At the far end of the cellar I saw what looked to be an altar, a body long sin
ce dead laid on the top.

  Each one had hoods covering their heads but the one who spoke, I could see his face. 'Who are you? What are you doing here?' he asked me again. His skin was pale, almost death like. No more than death like, it was very much like looking into the face of death. There are reasons why a priest of Soranus would keep himself hidden. 'Where is Ramanthus, speak now!' Speaking was the last thing I wanted to do but I told them Lord Ramanthus had to leave the Spire to see to the dragons. The one who spoke turned towards the other two, each was nodding their heads, softly speaking. 'The truth you speak but there is something you are not telling me. You hold back for a reason, yes?' I could not answer, the words failed me. 'Come to me, we will find the truth in your heart.' I saw one of them pull out a dagger, yet something was compelling me to walk towards them. It was all I could do to resist, to just stand still. The feeling passed soon but not before they grew tired of me. 'Ramanthus owes us, take him to the altar.' It was then that I heard the pounding of footsteps coming down the stairs.

  With the medallion of Solarth in one hand, his hammer in the other Zender came rushing to my side, the light coming from his hand filled the entire cellar. 'I have put up with many things since I came to this cursed land but I will not tolerate the presence of you.' As the light from his medallion touched the priest of Soranus they let out a bloodcurdling scream. I stood and watched as he advanced on them, ready to do battle in the name of his god. I then reminded myself that he was not alone as I drew my sword. Two of the three priest fell before the light, falling to their knees while they continued to shriek. The third, the one who spoke retreated back towards the altar. 'Defiler of men, creatures of darkness, return to your master.' Zender was possessed, there was no mercy in his hand that day. His hammer was swift, his arm strong as he crushed the head of the first priest. He fell on the floor, dead as the corpse on the altar. The second of the priest tried to ward him off with that dagger in his hand, Zender lashed out at it, I could hear the bones in his hand break as the hammer made contact. Before the dropped blade hit the floor, Zender felled him as well. Zender would not be contained. I had never seen him like this, unrelenting and vicious. I had moved up to his side just as the second priest fell to his hammer. I looked for the last of them, he was in part hidden behind the altar, holding something up. I did not see just what it was until it was far too late. As the crossbow bolt was let lose, I was diving forward to protect my unshielded friend. As we went crashing to the floor I felt it strike me, just under my arm where my armor does not cover. All I could say was crossbow after I rolled off Zender. 'What do you mean, crossbow?' he shouted. I managed to point towards the last priest while I laid there with a bolt in my ribs, watching as he took off at a run. I could hear them fighting but I no longer dared to move, each time I tried I could feel the bolt sink in just a little bit more. I laid there and listened to the sound of weapons clashing, vile darkness was pushed back by explosions of light. All the while I could now feel the bolt pulsing with the beat of my heart. I reached over with my other hand, trying to find it so I could pull it out. I could feel the fletching with my fingertips but each time I tried to get a grip my hand would slip off, there was now too much blood. As the cloud of contagion filled the air, I gave up before I made things worse. Not that the cloud bothered me, it was getting hard to breath anyway.

  My vision had started to blur when I saw him standing over me. When he reached down and pulled the bolt from my body the world took on a sudden and sharp clarity. 'At least this one wasn't barbed' he said as he held it out for me to see. 'Next time just block it with that damn shield.' With his hand pressed to the wound I could feel the healing begin. After he helped me to my feet I looked around at what was left of the priest. There were wisp of smoke rising off the priest who shot me with the crossbow. We then turned our attention to the vault door. There wasn’t much to it, just a simple steel door barred and locked. As Zender stood there looking at it I asked him if he still knew how to pick locks. ‘I have no time to waste, there are other things I must do.’ Before I could ask him just what that was he walked forward and smashed the lock with his hammer. While it held up to the first hit, the second time Zender smashed it, and the lock fell to pieces, crashing to the floor.

  Zender then handed me a bag and told me to put everything inside. I looked at the pouch and asked him to say that again. 'This bag is the single greatest find of my life. We could tear this house down, stick it in here board by board and have room left over for the foundation.' I looked down at the medallion of Solarth on his chest and asked him if he was sure of that. Zender just waved his hand at me and set off on his task. As I swung open the vault door I looked back to see what Zender was doing. He had pulled all of the priest bodies off to one side and pulled the old corpse off the altar. After doing that he started to splash holy water all over the place, saying prayers to his god. While I understood what he was doing, I could only shake my head at him. I then turned and walked into the vault.

  Standing there, looking into the vault, seeing all those piles of coin reminded me of home. It was a little bit like the vault in my home. Not wanting to waste any more time I opened the bag Zender gave me and started to remove each pile of gold. Soon Zender joined me, every coin, every gem and everything else went into that bag. It weighed no more than my sword by the time we were done. We started to head out but Zender stopped just at the bottom of the stairs. Looking towards the bodies he said, 'We should burn it all. I've done all I could be there is still bad air in here. We need to purify it in the flames of fire.' I reminded him that we did not have any time as I pushed him up the stairs. I don't know what Willis had told his men but by the time we closed the cellar door we could hear men outside the home. Zender had started to move towards the front of the house but I pulled him back, telling him to head towards the tower.

  By the time Zackary rejoined us in the tower, we could see a good thirty men gathered in front of the home of Ramanthus. Just before dark there were closer to a hundred men gathered in the court yard. We all stood and watched as First Sergeant Willis came out of the house with three other men behind him. 'The priests are dead and the money is all gone. We were promised pay and land from this so called General and that kook in the robe. Now we can wait it out or make our way home. It is up to you boys.' About the time all the screaming started Zender poked us from behind, Zackary and I moved away from the tower windows to avoid being seen by the men below us. The illusion was complete, we had shattered their faith in the grand quest of Ramanthus and we only had the gods to thank for where ever Ramanthus was.

  None of us bothered Lomark who was lost in his own little world. He had piles of spell books spread out all over the place, we later learned that he kept more than a few. Far below us in the court yard, the disciplined soldiers of the Coming Dawn had turned into an angry mob that soon took on a life of its own. The first fire was set in the home of Ramanthus. While the men were leaving the Spire in large groups, the fires continued to spread. There were two hundred men in all stationed in the White Spire before the riot started. The burning buildings made it impossible to see the ground for a while. As the fires started to die we saw the last group of men headed out just after the sun set. I just hoped they all made it home, where ever that was. While they had joined the cause of an evil man, I did not think they all deserved to die and not the living death that awaited them had they stayed. Now we just had to wait and pray that Lomark was able to find the spell we needed in order to make our escape. As the eye of Myrrdin made itself seen over Toryth Vol I heard something I did not expect. I stuck my head as far out of the window of the tower as I dared. When I knew for sure just what it was my blood started to run cold. 'Excellent!' Lomark said, 'I found the spell, it should be easy enough. Give me a bit more time.' I turned to look at my friends and told them we were out of time. The roar of the dragon Sa'tilix filled the night air as it came down for a landing in the courtyard amongst the still smoldering buildings of the White Spire.

 
63. The Scribe

  When Kandella received the orders to travel to the temple of Solarth in Arcadia she had no idea what it was about. She asked her bishop in Eystlund three times what was so important yet all he would tell her was that she was needed. When she arrived and it was explained to her by the strange bishop that her language skills were needed to translate old documents, she thought she was being punished. When she discovered just what it was that she was being asked to do, she no longer thought of it as punishment. She became honored at the thought of being the one person who would chronicle the history of the order of Solarth. Being one of the few people who were alive when the order fell at the hands of the followers of Asmodai, she came to revere this new position once she found the depth and scope of what was being asked of her. Spending most of her days and half the night giving great care to make sure none of the original scrolls were damaged, she copied each into a series of journals. She would have given up sleep in order to complete the work but Bishop Hans insisted she take her rest periods. He even chastised her the first time she missed the morning prayers, she was almost insulted as she was four times his age.