“On my return trek back to this mountain, I had also heard rumors of bandits in these lands. I believe they call them pirates here.”
Orilion nodded. “I too have heard of such a faction. Listening in to stories told over the eventide fire pits, it seems the Khanate tribes travel in fleets to discourage attacks against their supply runs.”
“Then it is possible the vessel Zeren had been traveling on may have been waylaid by such a group.”
Orilion gave her a surprised look. “But how? Chief Cinil had told us the journey to take the weapons cache would be a secret one.”
“There are either traitors within his retinue, or these pirates gleaned of other ways with which to discern people’s intentions.”
Orilion scratched the back of his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Ever since we ventured into these lands, I have sensed a powerful presence,” Miri said. “It took all of my power to ward against it.”
“You mean … there is an able Striga somewhere about?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Orilion looked away, his furrowed brow deep with concern. “That is most worrying. In the past days we have been here, I have not seen any of the tribes in these lands having either a Magus or a Striga around. My first thought had been perhaps the children of Vis had died out in this entire region. Have you detected anyone with these abilities from the people we have met?”
“No,” Miri said. “But then my mindsense has but a limited range. I have not felt anyone with any thought defenses here. But I have not yet fully unleashed my powers, for it may alert our hosts, and we have yet to determine what their customs are in regards to the users of Vis.”
Orilion made a low hiss while pacing back and forth by the entrance. “I once had thought the journey would be the hardest part of this expedition. My fears were if we found nothing but ruins and skeletons, then we would return to Lethe empty-handed, having wasted all those resources in building a sand sail to find the lost tribes of men. Now it seems we have gotten ourselves in the middle of a festering conflict that is about to consume the land. The crew is restless and morale is low.”
“I was planning to make the journey here, regardless of whether a sand sail would be built,” Miri said. “Rion was adamant, and I swore to be his protector.”
Orilion smiled. “That boy has proven invaluable to us all.”
Miri placed a reassuring hand on his elbow. “He is. We just have to be more careful now. Anything we do from now on must be well thought out and…” She scowled while looking out of the cavern entrance.
Orilion scowled when she stopped talking. “What is it?”
Miri had been looking out of the cave entrance while they talked. She pointed at the trail below them. “Someone is coming, it looks like a messenger.”
Sure enough, a hairless youth wearing a dusty tunic ran up the trail, stopped in front of them, and bowed slightly. “Dear guests of the Khanate, we hereby require your presence at the Great Cavern.”
Miri and Orilion followed the messenger down the trail. The three of them soon made it to the lower base of the mountain and entered into another series of caves which led to the Great Cavern. Along the way, Miri had summoned Todrul- her former pit instructor now turned bodyguard- to stand watch over Rion, who was still napping after a long eventide of travelling across the wastes.
By the time they entered the gaping hollow, the entire retinue of the Khanate had already gathered. Orilion nearly gasped out loud when he saw a small group of Exalted was also present. Lord Vorconis gestured at them to walk forward and stand alongside of him, and they did so.
Four of the Exalted stood before the Khan and his court, their crimson hooded robes partly caked with dust. The bronze masks they wore to hide their true faces seemed to be either grotesque caricatures of demonic visages, or were of a certain half-melted look that exuded a gnawing sense of unease to the gathered tribal representatives in the large chamber. The Exalted seemed to have focused their attention on Miri and Orilion the moment they had entered the Great Cavern, apparently ignoring the fawning of the Khan and his nobles.
Khan Dural remained in his chair. He seemed to be in good spirits as he meekly raised a bony hand in a gesture of peace and greeting. “Welcome all, I have called for this gathering at the request of the Exalted, who have recently … arrived to call upon our guests … from the faraway city of Lethe.”
Orilion made a slight bow to the Khan before he turned and did the same to the group of Exalted, who continued to stand unmoving like strange, misshapen statues. “Greetings to you, Exalted ones. I am Orilion, chief financier and … captain of the expedition from the city of Lethe. We have traveled a far distance into the unknown and have braved many dangers in order to once again restart the ancient trading routes our ancestors had traveled across.”
The tallest of the Exalted seemed to be their leader. He raised his right arm and pointed a gauntleted finger at Miri. The tone that came from beneath the mask was both eerie and hypnotic, like a strange unnatural melding of male and female voices. “Who are you?”
Miri wore a thin leather gambeson. She too made a slight bow. “I am called Miri, one of the protectors of the expedition from Lethe. How do I address thee?”
“I am the First,” the Exalted leader said. “Where are your others?”
Orilion gave him a confused look. “Others? What do you mean?”
The First’s mask covered his entire face, they could not even see his mouth move, much less the color of his eyes. “I know of a man … another protector in your group. Where is he?”
Orilion bit his lip before answering. Did someone inform the Exalted as to what had happened? He was about to blurt out that Zeren was sleeping by the sand sail, before he suddenly received a mental message from Miri, telling him to say something different. “We … do not know. He may perhaps be with the other crewmen, or busy exploring the nearby holds.”
The First suddenly turned his concealed gaze onto Miri but said nothing. For a short moment a hushed silence fell over the entire gathering.
Miri was trying her best to appear calm, but her mind soon sensed the invisible presence she had felt when they had first come upon the destroyed village a few days before. Her thought defenses were fully engaged, but the unknown entity didn’t seem to be forcing its way into her inner self, instead it seemed to hover close by, as if waiting for an opportunity of some sort. Miri reached out with her mental tendrils, trying to detect where the presence was located. She extended a mind probe to the Exalted leader, but was instantly rebuffed by a formidable thought defense that closed his mind off from her. Miri narrowed her eyes as she tried the same discipline to the rest of his group, but each one of them resisted her mental tendrils. These Exalted apparently had training to resist a Striga’s mind probe.
Nuada, the Khan’s wife, sensed trouble was brewing. She smiled and raised her hand in a welcoming gesture. “This is an unprecedented meeting between the peoples of different lands. I think we should declare a full day and eventide of feasting.”
Khan Dural nodded his head and grinned. “Yes, yes, a feast would do us good.”
Wulfgen remained standing behind Nuada as he held his breath. He silently cursed not arming his men beforehand. The bulges underneath the Exalted’s robes indicated they always carried weapons. He glanced over at Vorconis and his men, and it was clear they had their swords strapped to their waistlines. Was there going to be a battle? He stole a glance at one of his men, who promptly slipped away to summon more members his tribe, the Zaash.
The First suddenly raised his hand, indicating everyone else should remain silent while he continued. “There is another of your kind. Where is he?”
“You mean Todrul, our third protector? He is presently in our chambers,” Orilion said. “Would you like us to summon him?”
The Exalted leader shook his head. “No, not him. The boy. Where is he?”
Miri was taken aback but she recovered her composure
in less than a second. “My son is resting. He had been travelling to look at some telling stones with me. Why would you want him here?”
“The boy is not your son,” the First said tersely.
Miri scowled. “How dare you? Rion is indeed my son.”
The Exalted leader shook his head. “No. He is of another kind.”
Vorconis said nothing while his right hand subconsciously placed itself on the hilt of his sword. Everyone else held their breath as a tense atmosphere hung heavily in the tall chamber.
Orilion glanced over to the Khan and his wife before holding his palms up near his chest in a calming gesture. “Exalted ones, this is most improper. We have traveled here in peace, to trade and establish goodwill between the peoples of this land and our fair city. Why would you make such baseless insinuations and demand the presence of Miri’s son here?”
Lorrt, the Khan’s son, gave out a loud snort. “The Maker expects another sacrifice, I presume.”
Nuada grimaced as she turned and threw a hard slap on her son’s pale cheek. “Silence! You are not to interfere in these proceedings.”
Lorrt fell to the ground sideways, his left cheek flushed with crimson. One of Wulfgen’s men immediately crouched down beside the youth and helped him get back up. Lorrt silently glared with outrage at his own mother before he was escorted out of the Great Cavern. The Khan stared blankly at his son while the gangly young man was led away.
Miri’s jaw was clenched. The Exalted continued to stand there, unmoving and seemingly unconcerned. Despite being unable to read their thoughts, she sensed great fear and worriment amongst the Khan’s retinue and with the other tribal chieftains. It was clear the Lethean expedition would find almost no help amongst their hosts if it came to a confrontation with the Exalted.
With the obvious menace in the air, Miri knew she had to take a stand. “Rion is my son, and I will battle anyone who attempts to take him from me.”
“The boy is part of our expedition,” Orilion said, locking eyes with the Khan. “He is not the property of any of the tribes present here, and he is surely not a trading good to be sold. Unless you want a war with the city of Lethe, then I suggest we speak of other things.”
The Khan’s eyes had turned glassy. He began to sway his head listlessly. “If it is but a boy, we have many younglings in the tribes … we can … substitute others if a sacrifice is needed.”
“The Maker expects this Rion to be brought before the Oracle by the end of the second moon,” the First said. “That is his command.”
“Then I … I,” Khan Dural began to stammer as his whole body started convulsing. Two of his closest attendants quickly held him by his elbows and half-carried him back to his private chambers.
Nuada held her right hand up as everyone turned their attention to her. “My husband the Khan … misspoke.” She turned to look at the group of Exalted in front of her. “It shall be done as you ask. We all serve the Maker.”
Miri was outraged. “What? I refuse!”
Orilion grabbed her left elbow and whispered in her ear. “Miri, we must not react now. They can overwhelm us here.”
The four members of the Exalted quickly turned around and slowly filed out of the chamber. The moment they had left, the room erupted with shouts and curses. Vorconis gestured at his men to keep the others away from Miri and Orilion. Wulfgen snapped his fingers as more of his tribe arrived, this time armed with spears and swords to restore order.
Miri pointed an accusing finger at the Khatun. “You do not speak for me or my son! I will not allow you to take him away.”
Nuada stood up and gestured at her to be calm. “I had to say those words in order to placate them. The Exalted do not take kindly to refusals.”
Miri’s own thought probe could tell the Khatun was playing both sides. “But if you were truly going to deny them, why bother to lie now? There was but four of them- and your men could have easily overwhelmed them.”
“We cannot wage war against the Exalted,” Nuada said. “Their power is too great.”
“The members of my crew are not your slaves to be given away to whomever you wish,” Orilion said. “I have not expected this kind of betrayal from you or your people.”
It was Wulfgen’s turn to stand up. “You are not prisoners. We have some time to solve this dilemma. For now, we preach patience.”
“Yes,” Nuada said. “You shall remain our guests, and we will come to an agreement in due time.”
Although Miri didn’t carry a weapon, she began to calculate how much effort she would need to take one of the spears the Khan’s men were wielding. She had been gathering Vis the moment the proceedings turned sour, but it wasn’t enough to fight against them all. Miri had already sent a mental message to Todrul, warning him of possible trouble and to wake the boy up.
Vorconis gestured to his men and they quickly formed a ring around the two leaders of the Lethean expedition. “I am escorting our guests back to their quarters. No one is to follow us.”
Wulfgen’s eyes narrowed. He sensed his rival was up to something. Making direct eye contact with Vorconis, he nodded. “Respect the Khan’s wishes, Lord Vorconis.”
Just before he walked out of the Great Cavern, Vorconis stared at Wulfgen with barely suppressed hate in his eyes. “I respect the Khan’s wishes, not the Khatun’s.”
The moment they had returned to their quarters, Rion ran up to Miri and gave her a hug. The boy gave her a concerned look. “Todrul duly awakened me, Miri. What is wrong?”
Miri angrily grabbed her spear from the side of the wall. “The Khatun and her cronies have betrayed us to the Maker.”
Todrul had already put on his chainmail shirt. He stood near the door with a shield in his left arm, while his right hand was ready to pull out the arming sword from the scabbard by his waist. He warily eyed the half dozen armed men standing outside by the passageway. “Shall we make our way towards the sand sail?”
Vorconis had accompanied Orilion and Miri into the chamber. He held up his hand. “You must not make any hasty moves. Wulfgen’s contingent is keeping watch along the base of the mountain. If any of them notice your actions, they may view it as a hostile act.”
Orilion seethed. “Hostile act? Did you not witness what was being said in that Great Cavern? The Khan’s wife practically offered to give Rion away to the Exalted.”
“My cause lies with you,” Vorconis said calmly. “I too wish to rid this land of the Exalted and the Khatun, but they are too powerful to be dealt with.”
Orilion took his scabbard from a nearby wall peg and strapped it on. “I shall gather the rest of my crew and begin preparations to leave these lands.”
“Wait,” Vorconis said. “If your expedition attempts to leave, the more extreme elements within the Khanate will seize the opportunity to waylay your land ship.”
“They would not dare,” Orilion said. “If they seize us then it will be the end of any further journeys from Lethe.”
“You do not realize the full extent as to the power of the Maker has in these lands,” Vorconis said. “We worship the Maker as a living god, and we have never refused the demands of the Exalted. If they command us to destroy you all, many here would not hesitate to follow those orders.”
Bugurt moved hurriedly into the chamber after being let through by the guards in the corridor. Todrul was about to stop him, but Miri gestured at her former pit instructor to allow the aide to Vorconis inside. Bugurt bowed slightly in thanks as he caught his breath.
Vorconis stood beside his aide. “What have you to report?”
“Wulfgen has ordered his tribe to stand guard over the Lethean sand sail,” Bugurt said while wiping the sweat off his brow. “The Khatun has decreed that the ‘guests’ are to remain in here for the time being.”
Orilion scowled. “Lord Vorconis, I feel we are of a like mind when it comes to this. I have spoken to one of your allied tribes, and I have surmised there are many on your side who does not desire to be ruled by the Khatun a
fter the Khan passes away. Will you help us?”
Vorconis crossed his arms and sighed. “While it is true my people and my allies are against the Khatun and her friends, an open rebellion at this time would surely be defeated. They have the advantage in numbers, and the Khatun would most certainly have the Exalted as additional allies, which would completely overwhelm any opposing force I could gather.”
“If we could somehow even the odds,” Miri said. “How could we go about doing that?”
“There are remnants of pirates and rebels out in the wastes,” Bugurt said. “If you could somehow get them to our side, then we might have enough sand sails to match the combined Khanate fleet.”
Vorconis scoffed. “The pirates? I would not trust them even with a sharp spear pointed at their throats. Those scoundrels would drive a blade through your spine the moment you turn your back on them.”
“These pirates, what are their origins?” Rion asked.
“Long ago, when the tribes were consolidated, there were … dissidents. Those who had refused to worship the Maker, nor would they heed the words of the Oracle,” Bugurt said. “These families were not willing to give up their youth for sacrifice. They instead took their sand sails out into the wastelands and preyed upon any who dared venture there unguarded. The Khanate has occasionally sent out hunting fleets to thin their numbers, but these renegades still exist. We do not know their full strength, and they are obviously too weak to overwhelm any of the major holds.”
Vorconis shook his head. “Even if by some unnatural occurrence we are somehow able to get these pirates on our side, it still leaves the Exalted. And anyone who has ever gone up against those demons has never returned to the land of the living.”
“There may be a way to defeat the Maker and his Exalted,” Rion said. “Both my dreams and the telling stones have told me so.”
The Maker of Entropy Page 11
