Murockai, too, would have taken months to learn, and even years to master, but if he knew his friends as well as he thought he did, then as soon as Jeremy felt ready to face battle, they would have wanted to leave. Had they at least told the king where they were going? Glaide hoped with all that was in him that they had. Thanks to the words of his master, the young man had a clearer idea of what he would need to do next. As he’d thought, he’d have to start by finding his friends again.
If, after a month, he still hadn’t found them, he’d head to the capital, and, with Rozak’s help, he’d try to get in contact with the elves, dwarves, and barbarians, to try to reunite the peoples once again. Then, he would have to find Baras’ hiding place and flush him out. The two would perhaps have to meet on the field of battle; it was unlikely the brother of Aras would remain impassive in the face of his gathering enemies.
“It’s crazy,” thought Glaide. “I leave for another world, and after eight months, everything still seems completely unreal, and yet, I think as though I’ve always lived here! I guess since the beginning, two things have been at war in my mind. First, there is the mission that we’ve been given, though we don’t know why it was given to us, and the second is that we’ve had to build new lives for ourselves. In a way, those are the two halves of my current life.
“On one hand, I want more than anything to live here, to assimilate, and to forget the past, and to do that, I have to push myself to look toward the future. On the other hand, it isn’t that easy to separate myself from who I was. I think that once I can combine the two, as I’ve worked to do since I came, it will make me very strong. I’ll be able to fix my mind on my goals, while always looking back on what has happened so far, since it still seems unbelievable to me. I think that will help me move forward. But I think that’s also what Baras fears.”
Glaide felt a hint of fear glow to life inside himself, then: a fear of solitude. He had confronted it before, but every time he pictured the future, he couldn’t help but feel alone. Would he ever find himself wandering the Known Lands again with a group of friends? And if so, who would be there? His old friends? Or new acquaintances, like Tyv and Paeh? Finally, he decided to chase away those thoughts. They led nowhere, and only weighed down on him. By this time, the adolescent felt ready to speak, to try to understand everything that happened so far. However, without even realizing it, he and his master had drawn very close to their destination, and the man spoke to him quietly then.
“Be careful Glaide. We should be as inconspicuous as possible. If we’re detected before we have time to evaluate their forces, this little escapade will have accomplished nothing, and we may even make them launch their attack on the temple earlier.”
“So in other words, don’t let them see us at any cost,” the young man said soberly. The task seemed like a challenging one, but the boy felt his heart beat faster. He was finally going to see some action! The two stands of trees were separated by a narrow path. From their position a hundred feet away, the master and his disciple could easily make out movement. It seemed that Kezthrem had been right in that their adversaries had not abandoned their pursuit, and had instead set up an encampment.
Although the two were approaching as stealthily as possible, Glaide couldn’t help but let a smile flit across his face; he had to admit that the scene was rather comical: he and his master, dressed in simple temple clothes, with the man carrying a picnic for later! They looked like they were ready for a relaxing day, and instead, here they were acting as scouts. It was even possible that they’d have to engage in combat, and yet, neither of them seemed particularly disturbed. “We’re perhaps even too relaxed,” thought Glaide, smothering a laugh. There was nothing to do against it: the sense of well-being he felt at the side of his master, and the perspective he offered on the future—plans that would soon become realities—had made him jubilant. Instead of splitting up, Kezthrem prefered that they move together. They would peek into the first stand of trees, and if they had seen enough at that point, they would head back. If not, they would move on to the second.
“Don’t take out your sword, Glaide,” he whispered. “For now, you want to be able to move freely, unencumbered by anything.” The boy nodded, then the two moved further into the tall grass. From their position, they remained largely hidden, but they could easily make out the comings and goings of their adversaries. Their destination was no more than a dozen yards away.
“Our enemies seem to be moving from one stand of trees to the other,” Kezthrem whispered, “using the pathway that separates the two. If we run to the edge of the woods while no one is visible there, that should work well enough.”
“Right.” They waited for a few minutes. The flux of monsters wasn’t very big, but it continued all the time, preventing the master and his disciple from acting. Glaide felt all of his senses on high alert. He tried to hear even the tiniest sounds, trying to register as much information as possible. After a moment, he and Kezthrem exchanged looks. They’d counted the number of creatures moving across the path, and there had to be around thirty. “Unless it's the same ones passing back and forth,” thought the boy with a dark look, “there must be a full contingent in there.”
However, he didn’t have time to continue thinking about that. Before them, the pathway suddenly became empty. He looked to the right and saw his master already on his feet. The adolescent jumped to his as well, and the two ran toward the trees.
Chapter 17
KEZTHREM and his disciple reached their goal without any problems and crouched down at the same time.
“From this point on, we’ll have to be extremely careful, Glaide. We don’t know exactly what we’re facing in the ranks of our enemies. It appears they haven’t set any sentries up, but there may be some monsters hidden among the trees.” The young man looked in front of him and realized how sparse the vegetation was. A few bushes were visible here and there, but the ground was mostly bare, and the trees were spaced well apart from each other. Their branches began high up, and did nothing to reduce visibility. In the distance, they could make out voices and growls.
“They’re there, that much is certain,” he thought to himself. Kezthrem moved forward, and Glaide followed. They moved slowly, taking care to keep an eye on the ground, being careful not to step on any twigs that might reveal their presence, as well as watching the treetops, keeping an eye out for archers. More than once they found themselves ducking quickly behind the trunk of a tree to avoid being seen by a group of orks. Then, as they drew closer, they found themselves having to evade patrols of goblins that seemed to be guarding the edges of the camp.
Finally, the two reached their goal. Crouched behind a providential thicket, they found they could easily see what was taking place in front of them. Glaide barely held in a cry of surprise at what he saw. Kezthrem had been right. Before them, a full-fledged encampment had been set up. The trees had been cut down to create a clearing, and many monsters had gathered together there. Most were orks and goblins, but there were also a number of satyrs, black orks, and two or three trolls.
“How could they all have come together like this?” wondered the young man. “None of these creatures is well-organized or intelligent enough to bring together a batallion like this!” He looked toward his master and noticed his lips moving silently. He was counting. The adolescent set himself to the same task, and though stumps and monsters sometimes blocked his view, he estimated that a third of the creatures were orks, and that the goblins made up another third. The remaining adversaries were divided among all kinds of races, some of which the boy had never seen before. Two in particular caught his attention.
The first was a group of individuals with the thick skin and size of orks. However, they had more of the carriage of goblins, and they carried bows and arrows, with some also wielding short swords.
The other group carried knives that they seemed to wield with such speed and agility that they could throw them up into the air and catch them without even trying.
At their sides, many carried hatchets, clubs, maces, or swords, and most had sturdy, high quality shields in hand or attached to their backs. They wore fur-covered boots and loincloths, and looked very human-like: they were about the same height, and their way of walking was very different from the little jumps of the goblins or the heavy steps of the orks. There were three notable differences, however: curved horns sprouted from their skulls like on rams, their faces looked more like those of goats, and their skin was covered in thick, curly brown fur. Their eyes gleamed with intelligence, and they seemed lively and well-trained. Glaide told himself that those were adversaries not to underestimate: even just one of them could provide a real challenge, and he couldn’t imagine facing a full regiment, like one often had to with orks and goblins.
By this time the young man had finished his calculations, and had come to the conclusion there had to be at least sixty of them standing around, plus the creatures that were on patrols or moving from clearing to clearing. A hand grabbed his arm then. He jumped and moved to draw his sword before realizing it was his master. His master lifted a finger to his lips, then motioned with his head that it was time for him and his disciple to withdraw. They drew away, staying as low to the ground as possible all the while. They reached the edge of the forest without problem. It made the young man wonder if their enemies were really even trying to hide.
“There is no sense in trying to scout out the other encampment,” whispered Kezthrem. “Let’s go.” With that, he took off at a run, his disciple fast at his heels. After running about a dozen yards, they heard a cry from behind them. Glaide glanced over his shoulder and spotted a goblin pointing in their direction and jumping up and down. He looked particularly indignant, and it wasn’t long before other creatures joined him. However, as though they couldn’t believe that humans had infiltrated their camp—and without difficulty, nonetheless—they stood rooted in place, stunned. Seeing them, Glaide felt a laugh rising up in his throat, though he bit it back and continued in his flight.
“Master, they saw us!” he cried.
“I know, but they can’t send all of their troops after us, because they’ll assume we’ve laid a trap, and if they only send small detachments, we’ll quickly eliminate them.” Their enemies seemed to have decided to stay put, however, and the two fugitives soon put plenty of distance between them. After a few minutes, they stopped. Glaide sat down, out of breath, and Kezthrem looked at him in concern. He let his student catch his breath before he spoke.
“What they’ve done is actually very intelligent. They’ve preserved their manpower, and will probably move up the timeline of their attack.”
“You think so?” the boy asked, choking back a cry. “Then we must warn Ralon! If the second encampment has as many monsters as we counted here, there have to be a hundred, or even a hundred and fifty enemies! This will be no light skirmish!”
“That’s true, but don’t worry. If the temple has been attacked only rarely in all of these years, it is for good reason.” Glaide stood then, as his master had begun to walk again.
“And why is that?” he asked.
“Ralon, besides the soldiers, can call on the dwarves and elves who live in the area. They are always ready to lend a hand if we let them know early enough.”
“That’s good news! I’ve always wanted to meet elves!” Kezthrem shook his head, though.
“That’s too bad, because we’ll leave before that.” The boy stared at his master incredulously. “But... We’re not going to help them? They need us!”
“I doubt that. But at any rate, we’ll leave the day after tomorrow, and I doubt our enemies will attack before that. From what I saw, they’re not terribly well-organized. Their encampment is recently constructed, so they won’t have come up with a plan of attack yet. I don’t know who brought them together, but whoever it is, he hasn’t arrived yet.”
“You think it’s... a demon?” His master waved the suggestion away, however.
“Probably not. They only come out to lead full armies, and for very special missions. None of them would come out to command a mere hundred monsters. However, there are other creatures who could easily take on that role. A chief of the satyr clan could easily do it, or a master noruk.”
“Erm... A what?”
“Those monsters with the shields that we just saw. They are excellent fighters, both one-on-one and as a group.”
“Mmm, I thought they would be.”
“Sometimes, we call them ‘man-beasts’, because they look so much like we do, and sometimes we call them noruks, because that is what they call themselves in their own language. They are different from the other creatures, because they live in clans and have a social hierarchy far more advanced than even the satyrs’. They live far in the north of the Barbarian Lands, where they and the barbarians live in constant conflict. That’s one of the reasons the noruks are such good fighters. They have to be, to face the brute strength of the barbarians. They learn to forge their own weapons and armor and to fight very early.”
“So they’re more like us than like the orks,” concluded Glaide. Kezthrem thought for a moment before he replied.
“No, not exactly. Though their lives do not center around battle, they have a very aggressive nature, and I think their main goal is to expand their territory. Unlike the orks and goblins, they have a real objective in all of this. In the end, though, they’re just one more enemy to add to the list.”
“That all makes sense,” admitted the young man. “Where did they originally come from?”
“Some say from the north, while others say they lived in the Known Lands before they were chased out by the first dwarves and elves. I even heard from a merchant who said that they were our ancestors, and we their descendants.” They marched for awhile in silence, before another question came to Glaide.
“Master, do you think they’ve come for the parchment Koeris brought back? Doesn’t that seem a bit overboard? After all, it will take years before that document becomes useful!”
“You’re right, Glaide, and that has me very concerned. It’s possible that Baras himself gave the order for them to come together, with the goal of finding something else...”
“Like what?”
“Like you...” At that, the boy felt a shiver run down his spine. His life flashed before his eyes, and for a short but terrifying moment, he felt thrown back to a few months ago, when his weakness had nearly crushed him. He forced himself to be calm, though. This wasn’t the same at all, and Baras had done nothing for months anyway.
“How could he have found my trail?”
“The temple is a logical destination. Sooner or later, you would have had to have gone there, and so he would only have had to wait. Or, his henchman who attacked us when we first arrived may have let him know you were here.”
“If that’s true, why not send a demon? He would have been assured of victory.”
“There are many reasons. He probably isn’t absolutely sure you would be here, or perhaps he’d prefer to make you flee. If he were to send a demon, and the dwarves and elves were to see that, they would likely rally to your side, because they would know that their enemy would never send such powerful warriors for nothing. Then, you would only have to gather the barbarians, and all of the races of Galadria would again be allied.”
“It would help me in my task, then.” Kezthrem nodded.
“While if you flee, he thinks he’ll be able to get rid of you easily without anyone noticing. Actually,” he continued, “he may have realized that the mere mention of your name strengthens the humans, so by declaring war openly, he would simply lend credence to the rumours.”
“That makes sense,” concluded the adolescent, “which frightens me, I have to say.”
“Well, we’re going to do exactly what he wants. We’re going to leave. What he doesn’t know, though, is that this temple was only a brief resting place. It’s possible he believed he’d found where you’ve been living, while in actuality, we hadn’t plann
ed to stay for more than a week. By returning to the dojo, you’ll be safe, and by the time we return to the road, he’ll have lost track of you again.”
“In that case, I shouldn’t return to Shinozuka unless I am sure I have the support of many behind me.”
“Exactly, because if you don’t, and the king announces your presence to all of the Known Lands, you’ll no longer be able to hide yourself, and humans will find themselves going alone into battle.”
“And they’ll have no chance of winning,” finished Glaide with a sigh. Then, he thought to himself, “In that case, there is no way for me to plan to meet up with my friends somewhere, because Baras might track me. The only solution is to find them entirely by chance.” Aloud, he murmured, “So then, I’ll have to remain hidden until I have enough allies for the battle that will certainly take place once Baras knows where to find me.” With that, the two calmly continued on their way, while the sun drew lower and lower in the sky.
Chapter 18
“DO you think this would be a good spot?”
“A good spot? For what?”
“To eat, of course. I told the guard we’d be returning after sunset, and our little escapade made me hungry! Did you forget what I brought in this sack?” Glaide remembered then. His master had brought a meal so the two could picnic outside. The man began to pull all sorts of things out of the sack. The two had walked for almost an hour in complete silence, and they were only a few hundred feet away from the temple, within view of the imposing door. The young man realized that he, too, was famished, and he felt his mouth water as he saw the provisions his master was spreading out before him. He greedily launched into the food while Kezthrem distractedly nibbled on a piece of bread, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
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