“You are a juggernaut among men, wholly unstoppable in battle, and for some reason I do not yet comprehend people listen to you. They do as you will and command.” She paused as she lifted her eyes to his face. “And yet you know almost nothing of your race, what the Dahken are capable of or how the gods rule this world.”
“I was raised a Westerner under the watchful eye of the priests,” he explained with a defensive tone in his voice. “When I ran from home, I fell in with a big Shet from Tigol - a sea captain that worshipped no gods and relied on no one but himself and his crew. I only first learned of the Dahken four years ago, I think? Thousands of years of Dahken history were lost when Taraq’nok destroyed Sanctum. The only tie to it, the only source of knowledge I had was Rael, and he’s dead.”
“And that is also something I wonder about,” she said reflectively shifting her gaze into the canopy overhead.
“You wonder if he’s dead?” Cor asked. “You said yourself that the gods could rarely interact with Rumedia to that degree. I think its safe to assume Rael is not coming back this time.”
“I’m not sure he ever came back,” Thyss said quietly, and Cor stared at her in confusion. She cut him off just as he opened his mouth to speak. “I never knew him before, but I’m not sure that was the man you knew.”
“I don’t understand Thyss. That was Rael. Everything about him was the same - the same personality, the way he talked, the way he taught the Dahken. He seemed to hold against you the same things he held against all women,” Cor said.
This brought a glance as sharp as daggers from Thyss, and she sat up to face him. “You told me a bit of Lord Dahken Rael. You told me of a man who ate well and drank red wine often. How often do you remember him doing those things when he came back? Should I mention that when we first found him, he didn’t even know his own name? And what did Queen Erella say of him?”
Cor thought back to that day several months before. He remembered his confusion at the queen’s words and responded, “She said that she didn’t think he was a Dahken. She could see him, but it was as if he wasn’t there.”
“And the priests and priestesses of Garod can see into people, can see their lifeforces, for lack of a better word. It is one of the gifts from Garod that aid them to heal the sick. I assume she meant that she could see no such thing from Rael.”
“So what are you saying?” Cor asked with a deep sigh.
“I don’t know what I’m saying for certain,” she answered, causing Cor even more annoyance. “I wonder if perhaps Dahken Rael was not actually resurrected, but maybe a simulacrum, some sort of duplicate.”
“Why would Dahk simply not resurrect Rael?”
“Because as I’ve told you before,” Thyss said, Cor’s annoyance now shifting to her, “the gods are not all powerful. It would be far less consuming for Dahk to do something like that than truly bring Rael back to life, especially, if Dahk only needed him to train the Dahken for you.”
“If that’s so,” Cor reasoned, “then its very possible that Dahk may do it again.”
“Unless He has other plans.”
“Not that it matters, but how would we ever know for sure about Rael?” Cor asked.
“There’s only one way that I can see,” she answered. “We would need to find his tomb in the caved in ruin of Sanctum and see if his body is still within.”
“Oh, that explains it then!” Cor nearly shouted, as though he had an epiphany. “Rael told us how he pushed his way out of the tomb and climbed his way out of the ruins.”
“Leave the understanding of magic to me, Dahken,” Thyss responded harshly. “It settles nothing. If Dahk were to copy Rael, in both form and mind, I assume the copy would have to come from Rael’s actual body. The copy would likely have completely ignored the image of itself laying in repose as if in a dream. I imagine that the doppelganger would be similar to the real person, but somehow a shadow, incomplete.”
“It really doesn’t matter, does it?” Cor asked.
“No,” she agreed. “A magical curiosity and that is all. How long do we wait here?”
“Until they awaken,” he answered, motioning at the two unconscious Dahken. They breathed softly and did not move, though their hearts sounded strong within their breasts, and Cor hoped it would not be long.
* * *
A short Westerner with jet black hair and blue eyes strode through the plaza bordered by Garod’s largest temple complex and the palace of Queen Erella. No one had ever seen him in this part of Byrverus, for he never left his den of thieves and murderers, but many of the persons whose eyes followed him knew his identity. He nimbly avoided all those who got in his way as if they were only inadvertent obstacles, and in his passing, they were only vaguely aware that someone had even been near them. He noticed everything and everyone about him, a valuable skill for staying alive when one was involved in his trade, including the priest Aidan, who stood on the steps of the temple complex watching. The short man, his agile form dressed head to toe in fine black and blue silks that hid wiry muscles strong as steel chains, walked purposefully into the palace’s main hall, right past guards who stared dumbly after the person that they swore they just saw. He stood in the grand hall, contemplating which direction to go, before striding up to a pair of guards.
“Palius. Take me to him now,” Larnd said.
“Umm sir?” the guard stammered. “What business-“
“Shut up. For the sake of your family, take me to him now. No questions.”
The guard winced, knowing that should his identity become known to the man who was king in his own right the lives of those he loved most would in fact be forfeit. Without further statement or question, the guard turned on his heel and walked briskly down a series of corridors. As always two more men stood outside Palius’ rooms, the advantage and curse of being someone of import, and as someone used to going where and when he willed, Larnd allowed himself entrance unannounced. Guards attempted to follow him, and he shot them a hard glance full of cold fire and death.
Once certain the doors were closed, Larnd sprinted silently to Palius’ bed and launched himself to land astride the man’s chest, waking him frightfully. Palius immediately launched into a coughing fit, phlegm and blood bespeckling his lips. Larnd had produced a razor sharp dagger, the blade of which left a thin red line on Palius’ neck as he coughed, and he waited for Palius’ paroxysm abated before speaking.
“They are all dead, you stupid old shit,” Larnd whispered dangerously. “Only one escaped, my brother, and he is maimed and scarred. He will never again be able to serve me; his livelihood is gone because of your intrigues.”
“For what I paid you,” Palius said through halting wheezes, “I think he should be comfortable for the rest of his life, considering you don’t have to pay any of the others.”
“You idiot!” Larnd rewarded Palius’ statement with a hard slap to the face, and the old man’s pale skin gained a healthy pink color for a moment in the shape of Larnd’s palm and fingers. “This isn’t just about him; do you have any idea what damage you’ve done to me, my reputation? Now, every little gang leader will challenge my authority. In their eyes, I’ve failed twice to eliminate a minor lord. This man, this Dahken Cor, is a demon incarnate. A thousand men could not kill him and the witch that is always with him.
“I refuse to have any more to do with it. I would kill you now in your bed for my trouble, except that I see you already die slowly and painfully. I will take satisfaction in that.” Larnd’s dagger disappeared into his silks, and he climbed off the old man to stand at his bedside. He leaned over to whisper in Palius ear, “I expect you will not live long enough to call on me again, but should the idea occur to you, I will end your life before this consumption claims you. My organization is done serving your crown.”
Only a few people in the Shining West could make such a statement without reprisal or sanction, and Palius watched as one of them stormed through his door forever. Truth be told, no one really knew who Larnd wa
s or where he was from, only that he controlled much of the criminal world of Byrverus. Palius wasn’t even sure that Marek was actually his brother or if it was some sort of cutthroat euphemism. He sighed as he touched the thin line of blood that ran across the left side of his neck. Inspecting his fingers, he decided it was little worse than a cut from shaving.
“Sir, is everything -?” came a voice from his door, and Palius looked up to see one of the guards sticking his head through the door in concern.
“Yes,” Palius said with a wave of his hand, the one without his blood on it, “I’m fine, thank you.”
The guard closed the door, again leaving Palius with his thoughts. He pinched the bridge of his nose in quiet contemplation, and he found it hard to think. The rumbling in his chest distracted him, making it increasingly difficult to focus his mind; it happened often lately. A thousand men could not kill him and the witch, Larnd had said. He’d exaggerated of course, but Palius understood the sentiment. Therefore, the solution was not just a mere thousand but in fact thousands. It was time for the Loszians to bring their horde through the Spine and crush Fort Haldon and the Dahken. It would appear as if Aquis’ armies arrived just in time to stem the invasion and send it back into Losz. He thought over his next steps very carefully, waking himself as he began to snore.
He hadn’t meant to doze off, and Palius was aggravated with himself for the weakness. He climbed from his bed and wobbled away across his bedroom to his disused desk, using the furniture to hold himself upright much as a baby first learning to walk. He crossed the last ten feet with nothing on which to hold and half sat, half fell into his hardwood chair, wheezing and coughing heavily. Palius bent over and yanked open the bottom drawer of the desk, sifting through stacks of mostly blank parchment scrolls until his hand closed on the cold, purple stone mirror.
He held it with the glass facing him and began to speak, “Sovereign Nadav, can you hear me?”
Palius paused for several minutes before asking again. He repeated the process several times and was about to quit when the disturbingly narrow face of the Loszian appeared in the mirror glass.
“What is it, old man?” the visage asked.
“While you have gathered your forces, I made another attempt to kill Lord Dahken Cor. The man has proved very resilient.”
“Not as resilient as you, I see,” Sovereign Nadav quipped with a sarcastic laugh. “I suspect you have mere weeks left in that sagging skin of yours. Do you think your blessed god will accept you at his side?”
Nadav’s voice matched the sneer on his face, and Palius waved it aside. “It doesn’t matter Sovereign. All that matters is that I serve my queen. I hope your army is nearly ready to attack Fort Haldon. Even if I die beforehand, I can make certain that our army arrives just in time to appear to prevent full scale invasion. In fact, we will crush the Dahken between our forces and annihilate them from the face of our world.”
“Oh fear not, my armies are very nearly ready. Over five thousand have already arrived at the rally point, and another twenty thousand should arrive within the next few weeks. All total, close to fifty thousand stand ready to invade before the summers end, assuming I wait long enough for them all to assemble,” Nadav explained, and he wore a predatory smile.
“Sovereign, I believe that the five thousand should be more than adequate,” Palius said confusedly. He sat staring at the emperor’s wicked face before his eyes cleared, and Palius fully understood what the Loszian planned. “For the stability of our empires, I implore you not to do this. This is only about eliminating the Dahken threat. Sovereign -“
“Shut up!” Nadav snapped. “I will eliminate the Dahken threat, right before I retake all of the Shining West and rightfully enslave its people to Losz. This whole mess with the Dahken made me realize just how decadent my people have become, and we’re now coming for what is ours.”
“You would start a war that may destroy us both!” Palius nearly cried. “I will warn Her Majesty, and she shall rally all of the Shining West’s peoples against you.”
“And brand yourself a traitor?”
“If I must. My salvation shall be that one last act of loyalty. Perhaps I was wrong about Lord Dahken Cor,” Palius mused. “No doubt he would lead our armies in battle.”
“Let him come! I have my own Lord Dahken, and he wields power the likes of which your pitiful Cor has never seen,” Nadav shouted arrogantly. He turned to look to his left as he said his next words. “Come boy, meet the architect responsible for the fall of the Shining West.”
Nadav’s image moved slightly to one side of the mirror as if to share it, and another form entered the glass from the right. He was indeed a boy, scarcely older than sixteen and relatively small of frame, dressed in silver silk finery similar to that of Nadav’s. The boy had sharp features, rigid cheekbones and a pointed chin with a hawk nose. His eyes carried large dark rings underneath them, as if the boy hadn’t slept in days, but his gray skin, the pallor of the grave, told Palius everything he needed to know about the boy.
Palius gasped and said quietly, “I recognize you. You were with Lord Dahken Cor here in Byrverus. He saved you from Losz.”
“And now I have returned to Losz,” the boy responded. “I am Lord Dahken Geoff, and the Dahken will follow me or die at my hands.”
“And who do you serve?” Nadav asked, never taking his eyes from Palius’ face.
“I serve Sovereign Nadav, Emperor of Losz and soon all of the West.”
Palius knew his mouth hung open in shock, and shocked he was. For perhaps the first time in his life, he had no idea what to say. He had no well thought out plan to place into action, nor a sudden reaction from his quick mind. He was utterly speechless, and Nadav chuckled softly while his Dahken smirked wickedly. Palius regained his senses and grunted as he flung the mirror across the room, watching it shatter satisfyingly against a stone wall. This possibility had never occurred to him, but why had it not? He should have known better, he should have known that a Loszian could never be trusted, much less the Loszian emperor. Blinded by his loyalty to Aquis and Queen Erella - nay, blinded by loyalty to their power - Palius may have just handed all of the Shining West to the Loszian Empire.
He could not allow it to happen; if he confessed it all to Queen Erella now, she could mobilize in time to stop it. Also, any grievances she had with Lord Dahken Cor must be set aside immediately. Cor would be eager to fight the Loszians, even take the fight to them, and Queen Erella would need his strength. By Garod, Palius thought, Dahken Cor was never the enemy. Assuming his queen did not execute him for treason, Palius would also confess his deeds to Cor himself. Perhaps Garod would still accept him in death.
He stood from his desk and wheezed and coughed his way across his chambers to his main doors, his disused muscles screaming in agony with every step. Once there, he pushed one open to face the two men who constantly stood guard outside. “I need to see the queen. I implore you to find her and tell her Palius needs her. It is a matter of the utmost importance,” he said. They searched his face for a moment, and one of the men turned and marched down the corridor.
Palius barely made it back to his bed without collapsing, and it was several minutes before his coughing subsided enough that he could again breathe. His mouth was dry and tasted of blood and phlegm, and Palius prayed that he lived long enough to tell the Dahken of the boy called Geoff. As his breath returned, he searched his memory, for he knew he had seen the boy here in the palace; Geoff had even said as much. Nadav said that Geoff was powerful, and there was something Palius had heard through the whisperings in the halls. The boy had turned into a ghost, or perhaps that he had summoned a ghost? Regardless, he knew it had something to do with a ghost seemingly made of blood. Palius must speak with Cor; Cor would know.
Mere minutes later, his queen glided in silently with a grace that still amazed him considering her advanced age, but her face was flushed as if she had run the halls to reach him. Great concerned showed across her features, almost t
o the extent that she looked as if she may cry at any moment. No doubt, Erella thought Palius called for her because he was at his end, and in a way, Palius wished that was the case if only to avoid telling her what he must now confess. She approached his bedside quietly and sat down next to him, placing her hand over his.
“No my queen,” Palius said, unmoving, “I am not dying just yet, but I fear that time is close.”
“Then what do you need, my old friend?” she asked softly. No relief came to her face despite his statement.
“My queen, I have never been a religious man,” Palius confessed, “but in the end, I fear and trust Garod. My loyalty lies with my country, not just Aquis but the Shining West. Though more than anything else, I love you Queen Erella of Aquis, and I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. I’ve sacrificed every life I might have had to serve you, and everything I have ever done, I’ve done for you.”
“I know,” she said as she moved from a chair to sit on his bed with him. “Do not be afraid. In death Garod will grant you everything you may have once wanted - wife and home, children and grandchildren. His loyal servant deserves nothing less.”
“Majesty, I’ve not always done the righteous thing, the moral thing in Garod’s eyes. I have sins on my conscience and blood on my hands. I have made decisions and ordered horrible acts so that they would not stain your purity, and I am afraid that I must confess one of them now.”
“Palius, you mustn’t speak of it,” she said, briefly placing a finger over his chapped lips. “Garod knows all, and he will forgive your sins for the light in which you committed them. I have often wondered how I reigned free from strife and unpleasantness, and it is because you protected me from such hardships. You have aided me to rule justly, and the people of the West have benefited greatly from your sacrifices. Garod will not condemn you for this.”
“Erella, you must listen,” Palius said. Never once over the decades had he ever called her by name, and it caused her to become silent. “I attempted to murder Dahken Cor, not once in fact, but twice. You know of the attempt on his life when he reached Fort Haldon. When you told me weeks ago of his disrespect of Aidan and that you had sent for him, I paid Larnd no small sum for a heavily armed force to intercept his party. I don’t know specifics, except that Dahken Cor brought only a few with him, and Larnd’s people were defeated soundly. He has become powerful, and you will need his strength for what is to come.”
The Cor Chronicles: Volume 02 - Fire and Steel Page 23
