“I don’t know how we locate the dragon’s vital organs, but the rest seems easy enough,” Kelvich said. “Who could supply us with robes or whatever a religious sect would wear?”
“There’s a tailor in town who could do it, given enough time,” Miriam said.
“I can take care of the robes,” Brianna said. “I assume they need to be large and bulky, so that your armor will fit under them.”
“Not armor,” Zollin said. “Armor won’t help you in this fight. It will only slow you down and does nothing to protect your men from the dragon’s breath.”
“Still,” said Hausey, “it needs to be big enough that they can hide their weapons under it.”
“Okay,” Brianna said. “I’ll meet with the tailor and get everything we need. Then I can start making the robes as we travel. I’ll need a wagon, though.”
“That’s no problem, we have several wagons still,” Hausey explained.
“And we need tools, such as axes, saws, hammers, and nails,” Zollin said, the weariness evident in his voice. “If we’re going to build something, we’ll need tools.”
“Alright, I can see to that,” said the commander.
“Then it’s settled,” Kelvich said. “Tomorrow we’ll do what we can for the wounded and the next day we gather our supplies.”
“And on the third day we set out in search of a good place to fight the dragon,” Hausey said. There was hope in his voice for the first time since Zollin had met him.
“Good, I need some rest,” Zollin said.
“Come along, then,” said Miriam. “I’ll get you all home and squared away.”
They stood up and shook hands with the commander and his men. Zollin was glad to be leaving. He felt uneasy in the fort. He and the others had been escorted in, but seeing the guardhouse where he and Mansel had been locked up after taking a beating from the officer in charge made him feel queasy. They were just walking back through the fort from Hausey’s suite of rooms when one of the guards noticed Zollin and came rushing over.
“You!” he shouted. “You’re under arrest.”
“What?” Kelvich said.
“He’s a killer. He killed Centurion Yorik, and I’m taking him into custody.”
“This is absurd,” Kelvich said. “Zollin didn’t kill anyone.”
“No, he’s telling the truth,” Zollin admitted. “The centurion who was in charge of the garrison when we came through on our way to Orrock was a cruel man. He almost beat Mansel to death. He was hurting me and I fought back.”
“You threw him into the wall so hard his bones shattered!” said the soldier loudly.
“He got what he deserved,” Zollin said.
“Wait,” Kelvich implored the two men, “don’t fight. We’ll figure this out.”
“He’s going into the guardhouse and standing trial,” said the soldier. “He resisted arrest, assaulted the King’s soldiers, and aided the escape of a man in custody.”
“He’s on a mission for the King” Brianna said. “Show him the letter, Zollin.”
“Hausey still has it,” Zollin said.
“You can’t arrest him,” Brianna pleaded.
“The hell I can’t.”
By this time a group of soldiers had gathered around Zollin and his friends.
“This is the man responsible for killing Centurion Yorik,” the soldier said loudly to the crowd. “Some of you were assaulted by him. Are we going to let his crimes go unpunished?”
There was murmuring among the soldiers. Some seemed in favor of arresting Zollin, others were unsure. Yorik had been an evocati, which meant he had served long enough that he could have retired with a pension, but he had chosen to remain on duty. He had been a cruel man and had used his seniority to bully other soldiers.
“No,” said one of the other soldiers.
“Arrest him.”
“No clemency!”
The soldiers surrounded Zollin and his friends. Zollin handed his staff to Kelvich and nodded at his mentor as if to say, it’s okay. He let the soldiers take him toward the guardhouse while Brianna and Kelvich watched.
“We have to do something,” Brianna said.
“We will,” Kelvich said. “Let’s go see Hausey.”
They were followed by several of the soldiers as they returned to the commander’s offices in the fort. Hausey was a disciplined man who never drank while on duty, but after meeting with Zollin, he had no more business to attend to that evening. His back felt better and so he was nursing a small glass of whisky in the dark. The light was a small candle and Hausey was looking at the small flame, watching as it wavered and moved silently. He heard the commotion in the fort courtyard, but his mind was elsewhere. In fact, he was thinking of how he would never see fire the same after seeing it bellow out of the dragon’s serpentine mouth.
The door burst open and Kelvich came in, followed by Brianna, Miriam, and a few of his troopers.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Hausey said. He stood up too quickly and he felt dizzy and lightheaded, but tried not to show it.
“Zollin’s been detained by some of your guards,” Kelvich explained
“What?”
“He was the intruder that broke out of the guardhouse a few weeks back,” said one of the soldiers.
“The one that killed Centurion Yorik,” volunteered another.
“Are you sure?” Hausey asked.
“Several of the other men identified him, sir,” said the first soldier.
“It doesn’t matter,” Brianna said. “You’ve been told to give him whatever aid he needs, commander. In that letter from King Felix.”
“That’s true,” Hausey said. “But we can’t just sweep away a charge of murder.”
“Even though it was issued by the King?”
“He wasn’t pardoned by the King,” Luca commented. He had heard the commotion and followed the group back into Sir Hausey’s quarters.
“There’s no need to split hairs,” Kelvich said. “Zollin and Mansel were detained here on their way to Orrock. Your centurion beat Mansel and was attempting to beat Zollin, he only fought back. That’s not murder. He was defending himself.”
“Is that so?” the commander asked his soldiers.
“I don’t know, sir,” said the first soldier. “I didn’t see it happen.”
“Nor did I, sir,” said the other soldier.
“Fine, we’ll settle it all in the morning,” said Hausey.
“In the morning?” Brianna said, outraged. “After all he’s done for you and your men, you really expect him to stay the night in your guardhouse?”
“He’ll just be sleeping,” Hausey said. “He’ll have a bed and breakfast in the morning. If he’s innocent, he’ll be released, but let me remind you that this is a King’s Army garrison. We have strict rules of discipline and I’ll not break them for Zollin or anyone else.”
“This is outrageous!” Brianna argued.
“We’re all on the same side here,” Kelvich argued. “We’re tired. We’ll get some sleep and see that this mess is worked out in the morning.”
“You mean you’re going to leave him here?” Brianna said.
“He’s right, Brianna. Zollin can rest here as well as he can in Miriam’s house. Let’s get some sleep and come back in the morning.”
“No, I won’t leave him here alone. There’s no telling what those guards will do to him,” Brianna argued.
“They won’t do anything to him,” Hausey said. “Not on my watch.”
“Zollin can take care of himself, my dear,” Kelvich said. “Now let’s go.”
“No, I’ll stay.”
“Sorry, no women are allowed to spend the night in the fort,” Hausey said.
“I won’t leave,” she said. “You’ll have to lock me up, too.”
“Kelvich, please,” said Hausey.
“Brianna, come on. There’s no need to stir up more trouble.”
“I at least want to see him,” she said.
“Fine,” Hausey said in exasperation. “You have five minutes. Then we’re locking down the fort. I’ll sort through this mess first thing in the morning. If you would like to be present, you are welcome.”
Brianna turned and stomped out of Hausey’s office.
“We’ll be back in the morning,” Kelvich said.
He and Miriam followed Brianna out of the office and toward the guardhouse. Kelvich felt guilty even though he knew the best thing he could do was to work with Commander Hausey. It still stung to think of leaving Zollin in the guardhouse, although Kelvich knew that Zollin could escape anytime he wanted. Apparently he had done it before.
“I’m here to see Zollin, by order of Commander Hausey,” Brianna said to the guards stationed outside the guardhouse.
“No visitors after dark,” said the soldier.
“She has permission,” said Kelvich.
“Sorry, can’t let anyone in without express orders from my superiors.”
“But she has permission from Commander Hausey,” Kelvich said.
“Maybe she has, but I haven’t,” said the soldier. “I’m not allowing anyone inside without being given the order myself.”
“This is absurd,” Kelvich said.
“It isn’t right,” Brianna said.
A bell tolled and the soldiers on duty began locking down the fort for the night.
“No civilians allowed in the fort at night,” said the guard. “You’ll all have to leave and come back tomorrow.”
“I’m not leaving until I see Zollin,” Brianna threatened.
More soldiers appeared, one taking Kelvich and Miriam by the arms and another taking hold of Brianna.
“What are you doing?” Kelvich shouted.
“Let go of me,” Brianna screamed.
She was kicking and thrashing as the soldier holding her by the arms dragged her away from the guardhouse toward the main gates.
“Zollin,” Brianna screamed.
Suddenly, the wall of the guardhouse exploded outward with a thunderous crash. Everyone froze in surprise. There was a billowing cloud of dust, and inside it they could see the outline of a man in crackling blue electrical energy.
“What the hell is that?” said one of the soldiers.
The two men guarding the door to the guardhouse had not been harmed, but they had fled their posts after the explosion. Now they came back toward the scene, their weapons drawn.
Zollin stepped out of the cloud of dust. He was angry and it took all of his self control to contain the magic that was snapping and popping inside of him. He felt the might of his magical strength so much that he knew he could kill the soldiers with a thought. He wanted to destroy the fort, to see the buildings burst apart as the guardhouse wall had done. He wanted to make the man holding Brianna suffer, but he held himself in check.
“Let her go,” he ordered the soldier.
“Prisoner escape!” shouted one of the guards, the same one who had refused to allow Brianna in to see Zollin. “To arms! To arms!”
Soldiers were running toward the scene from every direction, many had weapons, although they half expected to see the dragon swooping down to devour them.
The guard ran toward Zollin, who levitated the man up and over his head with a wave of his hand. There was sweat running down Zollin’s face and his skin looked ashen, but his eyes were bright and there was magical power popping and hissing up and down his body. It was an awesome sight, terrible and frightening.
Brianna was at first proud and then shocked by what she saw. Zollin had demolished the guardhouse when she called him, but the look in his flashing eyes was not that of the kind, tenderhearted man she had fallen in love with. She could see his power and the ferocity of it lying just below the surface. He was battling to keep it under his control and once again she was struck by how much might he wielded. He could do whatever he wanted and no one could stop him, not even armies, she thought. She was frightened and she hated that. Part of her wanted nothing more than to leap into his arms, and another part of her was afraid of him. She had been holding herself back for days now and she was miserable. When the guards had carried him away, she regretted everything, but seeing him now caused her to doubt herself. Could she love a wizard? Could she live without him? She simply didn’t know.
More guards rushed forward but then stumbled back as if they had run headlong into an invisible wall. Zollin was walking toward Brianna. The guard holding her positioned her between himself and Zollin like a human shield.
“Let her go,” Zollin said quietly.
“What is going on here?” Hausey shouted. He had been stunned by the noise of the explosion and then had struggled to get his weapons before rushing outside.
“Let her go,” Zollin said more forcefully.
“Everyone lower your weapons,” Hausey shouted.
“He’s a demon!” cried one of the soldiers.
“A sorcerer,” shouted another.
“Kill him,” someone screamed.
“Burn him, you have to burn him,” came a frightened voice from near the gate.
It was well past dark and many of the soldiers were in the shadows. No one was lowering their weapons; in fact, many of the men on the fort walls had bows drawn and aimed at Zollin.
“No one move!” Hausey shouted at the top of his lungs.
Everyone froze but Zollin. He was closing the distance between himself and Brianna.
“Let her go, please,” Kelvich said to the man holding Brianna, but to no avail.
“I said: Let...Her…Go,” Zollin said, his voice unnaturally loud and deep.
“Stay back,” the soldier said.
“Zollin,” Hausey said.
Zollin reached out with his magic. He could feel Brianna and the soldier behind her. He let the magic penetrate deep inside the man until he could feel the soldier’s heart beating and the adrenal glands dumping hormones into his blood stream.
“Last chance,” Zollin said coldly.
“Let her go, trooper,” Hausey shouted.
The man was paralyzed with fear, his fingers squeezing so hard it was difficult for Brianna not to cry out from the pain. Zollin felt the arteries supplying blood to the man’s brain and slowly squeezed until he stopped the blood flow.
“What are you...,” the man cried. “What are you...doing to me?”
Zollin said nothing, everyone was silent, watching. Then, the soldier passed out. His grip relaxed and he fell to the ground. The soldiers started shouting. Some merely yelled in outrage or fear, others charged forward. Five arrows were shot at Zollin, but he was ready for them. He threw up a shield around himself. The arrows bounced off and then a few of the soldiers who would have attacked him crashed into the barrier. The force of their charge rocked Zollin’s shield a little, but the collision was nothing compared to the force of Branock’s attacks at Orrock.
“Stand down,” cried Hausey. “Lower your weapons and stand down!”
Most of the soldiers obeyed, but a few were caught up in the fury of battle. They screamed as they attacked, crashing into Zollin’s defenses until they were stunned silent.
For his part, Zollin slowly lowered himself to the ground. He was exhausted and shaky. He felt like he might be sick. He had thought that he could go into the guardhouse and sleep; it had been all he wanted to do. It made no difference to him that night if he slept at Miriam’s home or in the guardhouse or simply on the ground. But then he’d heard Brianna shouting. He had strained to hear what was happening as his magic churned hotly inside him. Then she called his name and the force of his power blew the guardhouse wall to rubble.
“Check these men!” Hausey shouted. “We need healers!”
Men came out of the darkness. Most were trained to deal with wounds, such as how to stabilize an arrow or stop the bleeding from a flesh wound so that the wounded could be transported to a highly trained surgeon or master healer. They checked pulses and bones, but no one was seriously hurt. Even the soldier who had been holding Brianna was
coming around; he had merely passed out from the lack of oxygen to his brain.
Five Kingdoms: Books 01, 02 & 03 Page 85
