The Emperor's Shadow War (Tales of Alus Book 2)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Dante was surprised at the gentleness of the touch and wondered if her feelings ran the way of his. His eyes closed and opened them again slowly and found her silver gaze staring into his still. Valenia's face showed surprise at the look she found there before the man realized that he had let his guard down.

  "Oh," she breathed softly.

  "Gannon knew that, even in my anger, I couldn't kill you. I don't know how it happened, but I think that..." he couldn't finish the thought out loud.

  A smile played at the corners of Valenia's mouth. The woman placed both hands behind Dante's neck and leaned her head back. Pulling his lips to hers, they kissed. It lasted several long moments, until they realized the consequences of their actions.

  When Dante recovered his breath, he stepped back from the captain's embrace. He could hardly force himself to look at her for fear of the emotions that threatened to engulf him. "This is what I fear will happen before long, not fighting, Valenia. Both our groups have lived a long while without the company of another sex. I don't know what these men have done before this week, because we've only been together since I was promoted, but I can guess that their time off has been spent in the inns and taverns of Trea. Many of the men that I have fought with found the need for a soft voice or the willing body of a woman too compelling to resist.

  "I'm sure that your women feel that way after all the killing that our kind does. I can see a time where these soldiers turn to each other not in anger, but for comfort."

  The woman slipped her hands from his shoulders. One strayed to take his hand in her grip. Pulling playfully for him to follow, Valenia replied, "I hope that you're right. I prefer these worries to a pitched battle. At least then they'll be working to help protect each other. Come on. We'll talk about this more as we... walk."

  "But..." he began futily.

  "I'll show you how our armor works, if you want to talk business," she added with a wink.

  With a squawk, Misery lifted away from his shoulder seeming to know their feelings no longer matched his name. Dante allowed himself to be led deeper into the forest.

  Valenia found a clumping of bushes that were spread out from each other enough to slip between. "How is this? There're no prying eyes, so we won't have to explain ourselves to our troops."

  "Why are you doing this, Valenia?" Dante asked as he allowed her hands to work the leather jerkin from his shoulders. The man would hardly fight her. He wanted the woman too much. Such need also made him worry over what they were about to do.

  His fingers tried to find the fastenings of Valenia's armor. He fumbled for them too long and the woman laughed at his attempts. "I told you that I would have to show you how this worked." With four individual twists along the sides of the armor, she released the joining plates. "Lift," she urged and he quickly moved to obey.

  With the armor off, Dante only had her brown tunic separating them. The brown shirt slid open further as Valenia slid a hand along one edge of the shirt that was little more than a long vest to protect against the chafing armor. Dante worked at his boots and nearly tumbled over in his urgency. The woman laughed at the sight. After he had his removed, Valenia held onto him to steady herself as she took hers off as well.

  Dante couldn't help embracing her long enough to kiss the nape of her neck. She giggled at the touch. The sound seemed strange to be heard from the usually soldier serious woman. "Don't start before your pants are off, lover," the woman said breathily and her hands slipped into the waist of his breeches before working them free.

  No longer encumbered, the two lovers began the slow work of learning each other and their desires. They consummated the relationship more than once and soon both lay within the other's arms panting from their work.

  "Don't take this wrongly, but I still can't understand why you were so quick to do this. I liked it, of course, but I don't understand it," Dante repeated his earlier question.

  Seeing the man's readiness for another round of love making; Valenia smiled happily and sat up to remount him. She leaned closer to his face and kissed him passionately, "I've wanted you since we first met at the lake actually. I thought that I'd die of my longing if we didn’t get this out of the way."

  "But you tried to stab me to death."

  "I didn't like nearly drowning," she answered matter-of-factly. The woman sat back from Dante and gave him a stern look and warned, "Don't do it again, all right? You only get to call it foreplay once before you get on my bad side, lieutenant."

  "I promise," he replied easily. "So you wanted me right away? I'm flattered."

  Suddenly a vision of the two of them together entered his head. The raven's sight made Valenia appear even more appealing, but a small bit of worry spoke from the back of his mind. "We need to stop."

  "What? Why?" the beautiful woman complained while pulling her long silver hair back, but stayed where she was perched long enough to hear him out.

  He pointed and Dante saw his movement in the third person still. Valenia looked up to see Misery. "It's your raven, so what?"

  "I'm seeing through his eyes again. This only happens when something important happens. Only two things come to mind that could happen right now. An interruption either by trouble or our soldiers; or maybe he thinks you're going to get pregnant. We don't want either of those to catch us unprepared right now, do we?"

  Valenia scrambled from him though she was careful not to injure either of them. He heard her mumble a curse about `the damn bird' as she did so.

  "I assume that we'll worry about the circumstance that we can still prevent," Valenia added with a sparkle from her crystal blue eyes. "We'd better dress quickly."

  He nodded sadly. Dante didn't want Valenia pregnant right now, but he couldn’t say that the thought didn’t excite him just a bit. He would be proud to have a woman like this be a mother to his child, even if that was rushing so very fast into a relationship of just a day. They both knew that this wasn't the best time for other reasons as well. Gannon had suggested that they were both to go on the quest to stop the evil minions of the Dark Emperor. A pregnancy would be a definite hindrance if she were to begin having morning sickness among other things. Looking at the beautiful silver haired beauty pulling her clothes of her wondrous form, he hoped maybe some other day.

  Their clothing and armor were replaced even faster than they had been able to take them off as they prepared for a possible attack. Dante waved for his new lover to follow, "We'd better get back to the camp."

  "Are you still seeing through his eyes?" she asked worriedly.

  "No, but that doesn't mean anything necessarily. The vision has served as a forewarning of an attack before and left time to react to it as well. If it’s the other possibility, we'll deal with that later."

  As they neared the camp, Misery charged upwards to the height of the tops of the trees. The bird swooped downward again and was lost to sight behind the green of the woods. Dante began to wonder, if their concerns were misplaced until they heard the sounds of battle.

  When the leaders of the soldiers found the edge of the clearing, they found their camp under attack by a mass of green and brown bodies. Dante's brow furrowed in anger at the sight of the new wave of enemies. He refused to let the Dark Emperor's creatures kill off another one of his men. With a loud battle cry, Dante charged into battle with Valenia at his back.

  Chapter 17- Darius

  The large hall held nearly a dozen men. It was built of planking in a way that Darius had never witnessed before. He wondered at the odd construction enough to even use his burgeoning mystic sight to check his hunch that magic had been used in its construction. He did so because it felt like the wood surrounding them was still alive despite its reshaping. Even after careful inspection as they had waited for Janus and his men, Darius still wasn't sure.

  The greeting as Janus entered had involved no warmth and a definite chill ran down Darius spine, in fact. "Electra warns me that you have important matters to discuss, Darius. Get on with it. I have many thin
gs to oversee in the rebuilding of our lives here."

  Darius nodded as the elf took a seat in a high backed chair. A pair of the elven warriors took a place to either side. Electra lurked off to the side and was obviously a part of the proceedings from Janus's wants.

  "I have been sent to establish relations with your people in an official nature and to offer support if you wish to return to your world."

  The holy knight snorted in derision. "Interesting words for one who acted like a thief in the night in his escape of our hospitality. Why do you think that you have the right to give these words now when you could not before?"

  Pulling himself to his full height, Darius let a taste of the magic play in his eyes. "Since we met, I have been promoted to full wizard status. In our world, a member of the wizard's council has nearly the power of a full lord and certain rights that a ruler doesn't have. The head of my council has charged me with the duties and powers that I am here to present you with now."

  Janus clapped as if in praise, but his look of disdain sought to infuriate Darius, who would not be baited so easily. "Congratulations to you then, wizard. Now, as I said before, I have many things to do. Just what are you offering and what catches are implied with our alliance?"

  The wizard held up his hand to hold off the elf's impatience with the proceedings. "Perhaps you would allow me to discuss the reasons for our arrival first?" With Janus' resigned nod, Darius continued, "We have another order of a similar line to our wizard's council. They are known as Seers or Visionaries. They tend to avoid the general workings of man and maintain the vigils of their calling, to see visions of the future. Do you have such a people on your world?"

  "I have heard that there are those that have the talents that you mention, but there is no such caste of seers like you profess. Get on with your lecture, please." The bored look that the knight affected was betrayed by the glint in his eyes as he awaited the wizard's words. This was information much like what Electra had been sent after, Darius knew, and it was calculated to bait Janus in as it seemed to be doing now.

  "One such woman came to the council on the day of my return from your people. The Visionary gave an order as she proclaimed her vision. She knew that I would become a full wizard of the council and lead a mission to you. From here, we will go on to another country where we can find that which can help us defeat the Dark Emperor."

  Janus stood up indignantly. The warriors surrounding them tensed in readiness, but Darius remained calm. "You are telling me that based on one woman's dreams you want me to go with you on some quest to destroy the Dark Emperor. Why should I give credence to such nonsense? I think that your council must be a bunch of fools to listen to such lunacy."

  A stiffening of the other wizards in the room at the verbal attack caused Darius to turn to the other two men with a cautioning look. "The words are true, Janus, despite your distrust. I might point out that no one besides your elves and myself knew of the name Dark Emperor. I did not tell her the name, but she did use it when the woman warned us. The other things that she told us that happened could have been inferred, or her words may have lent themselves to altering the original outcomes, but not the name of your enemy."

  The holy knight returned to his chair and snorted again. "Now I am supposed to believe you. You, the man who slunk out of our camp like an ownerless dog. Fine. Saying that I believe you, what would you have me do, wizard?"

  "As I said, I am going to take my people and any who would follow to a country to the northeast. There we are supposed to find men who guard a weapon strong enough to destroy your foe. You would like your home back, wouldn't you, Janus?"

  The holy knight pursed his lips unhappily. "I will speak with the elders of the village and let you know of our decision."

  Janus waved to the guards surrounding the wizards and had them led from the tent.

  Electra stepped towards Janus and bent close enough that her words could hardly be heard by the others still within. "What do you think, my lord?"

  His head rested in one hand upon the chair's arm. Turning to look at the blond woman dressed in her hunter’s green, Janus drew his chin from its support. "I don't know what to think. I know that our people wish to have their world back, but this one could become our new home just as easily."

  The woman stood up angrily, "Such talk does not become a holy knight, Janus. Remember that our people living here had little choice in coming to this world, but they still had the ability to get here. Those of the Alfar nations left behind will live or die without this escape. You could give them hope by allowing these wizards to give you a weapon. If you could destroy the Dark Emperor, then our world could be saved."

  "And if I fail, then I bring destruction upon those remaining to resist him," the man insisted.

  Electra sighed. She placed her hand upon his shoulder gently and his eyes turned to hers questioningly. "If you do nothing, the nations will still be destroyed, Janus. You know that as well as I. Even your powers could not resist the numbers thrown at us in Caffeyli. The walls were strong as any fortress of the outer nations. A few are stronger true, but by the time the enemy reaches those, our armies will be depleted from trying to keep the hordes away. You've seen their numbers. You know their strengths and weaknesses. If you tell me that our people can win, I will believe you. Do you?"

  A sound at the other end of the room as the elders of Caffeyli entered distracted them a moment. The two turned to stare at each other again. Janus sighed as if his heart was breaking, and perhaps it was. He shook his head in resignation.

  The oldest men of the village had formed a semicircle in front of his chair. Janus stood and nodded to one and all. "The humans have come to offer us help in stopping the Dark Emperor and give us our world back, if we still want it. They know of a weapon that will help us. I leave the decision to you elders."

  When the wizards were invited back into the meeting room, Darius was unconcerned about the verdict, he realized. Perhaps knowing that the Seer had sent him here made it easier, the young wizard thought. He just needed to await the words of acceptance to continue with his charge. It was foreordained, even if Darius didn’t know the exact way that the elves would give in to their plan.

  Janus didn't let him down. With the elders still in attendance, the knight announced, "It is our decision to join with you, wizard. We would be grateful to you, if you could help liberate our world."

  "It won't just be us working to save your people, Janus. I don't know what other forces work in your favor, elf, but I assure you that the Dark Emperor will know that he has been in a true battle by the time we're through with him."

  "Bold enough words, Darius, now what would you have of me?"

  "Have those that you would send along prepare for a journey of perhaps three or four weeks. Take any weapons that you choose, for I suspect that before we return here, we will have been to your world and fought the fight of our lives."

  "Then it is as I thought," Janus replied. "I will need to go with you. My people will need me more on my world than those here do. Can you assure me that those left here will be safe in my absence, wizard?"

  Darius nodded. "The council alerted the king of this land to your presence and they assured me that none would come from our world to harm you. If the Dark Emperor finds a way here though..."

  The holy knight shook his head, "I brought us here. He has great magic, but I doubt that he can find this place easily."

  "I should warn you, Janus. My order has a device that shows when portals like yours are opened. Since your arrival, several more have opened into our world. I'm pretty sure that our people fight the Dark One in this world as well, but I can't be certain of the true affect that these portals are going to have on any of us. I thought that you should know that we believe that the Emperor has the magic to invade us already."

  Janus nodded. "This shows that our decision was the correct one. Even here, we would eventually be under the Emperor's thumb if we cannot stop him there. If there is nothing else,
Darius, I will begin the preparations for our departure."

  The wizard nodded and the men took their leave of each other.

  Chapter 18- Dante

  The dark soldiers were everywhere in the camp. The men of Certe fought alongside the women of Valos desperately to save their lives. The numbers of their enemy were guessed to be almost double their forces combined and the desperation of the situation left the squabbling of earlier far behind them. Men and women, they fought as one to survive.

  Dante allowed himself the briefest thought that this was one way to bring the two units together. That would be the case, of course, if they survived this onslaught. Dante and his men had the smallest of advantages in that they had fought this kind of foe before. Goblins and orcs made up this contingent they faced here. As they ran for camp, Dante warned Valenia quickly of their fighting style when both types of creatures were together, since he had witnessed the style firsthand at Turo.

  His men had also apparently shared enough with the Valosians to warn them to work in groups. With Valenia fighting at his back, Dante fought his way frantically to the others. A coward could easily have deserted them in the face of such odds and a need for self preservation, he knew. The lieutenant and the captain had been well away from the conflict and could have stayed out of it, but leaving his men in a fight was totally against his principles. He figured that Valenia shared those feelings for her own people. They knew their place was with their soldiers whether they lived or died.

  Dante felt like he fought better than he could ever remember as the man faced monsters out of childhood nightmares. Maybe it was Valenia at his back, the soldier considered and struck at another orc in front of him. Maybe the thought of being unkillable according to a seer helped. He didn't know and scarcely had time to think more on such things. The sight of a small knot of gaudily armored orcs caught his attention instead.

  "Valenia, their leaders!" he gasped. Not wasting time with looking for confirmation, Dante plunged through the mass towards the creatures.