by Pedro Urvi
“That’s a good idea. Do it subtly, so that he doesn’t know I’ve been telling you about this.”
“No problem. I’ll mention it in passing, when anything odd happens in town – which is every week. I’ll tell him I’m worried we might be attacked again, or something like that, to see if I can get him to talk about it.”
“Fine, but be very careful and don’t get too involved. It’s very dangerous.”
She winked at him. “It’s dangerous for you. I don’t think they want to kill me.”
“If they find out you’re investigating them, I promise they will. They’re not going to let anybody find them out.”
“All right … I’ll be careful.” She stroked his arm to relax him. He was very tense, and it was noticeable.
“Thanks. I feel a bit easier now, though not much.”
“We’re safe here,” she assured him.
Lasgol looked around. Several Rangers were eating at long tables near them, and at the furthest a dozen Royal Rangers were chatting. He nodded toward them.
“We can’t tell whether any of them is working for the Dark Ones.”
Nilsa took a good look at them. “I know nearly all of them. I don’t think they’re with the Dark Ones.”
“There’s no way of telling. It could be anyone. And we won’t know until they act.”
Nilsa made a face. “That’s true.” She was watching them thoughtfully.
“That’s why you need to be very careful and not trust even a Royal Ranger. We have no idea how high up they’ve infiltrated our corps.”
“You think they’ve infiltrated the different ranks? Specialists? Royal Rangers? Master Rangers? Leaders?” She was looking deeply worried.
“Specialists and Royals: I’d say very probably yes. As for the leaders, I hope not. It would be awful for the honor of the corps. In fact, what Egil said about Ivana and Haakon’s behavior – which I’d already experienced myself – worries me.”
Nilsa put her hands to her face in disbelief. “It can’t be them. I refuse to believe it. They’re Master Rangers.”
“Stranger things have been seen. Bear in mind that we know nothing about them. Nothing at all. It might be a good idea to look into their past and see what we can find out.”
“I’ll take care of that!” Nilsa cried eagerly.
“Good. But very carefully and without raising any suspicion. Will you manage to be subtle and do it without being noticed?”
“Of course.”
Lasgol was not very convinced by this. “Mm … I don’t know …”
“Take it easy, you wait and see. Leave it to me.” She nodded toward the Royal Rangers. “I’ll start with them. I’m sure they know things …”
“Okay, but don’t forget that one of them might be a Dark One. Be very careful with how you get hold of the information.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll ask casually, as if I’m just making conversation, don’t worry.”
“I’d prefer not to worry, but I do …”
“That’s because you have a heart of gold,” she said with a giggle.
Lasgol smiled. Suddenly a shadow took shape above him. He turned sideways on the bench and saw two Rangers behind him. He stiffened at once, and his hands reached instinctively for his weapons. Nilsa had also reached for her Ranger’s knife and short axe.
“Are you Lasgol Eklund?” asked a veteran Ranger. There was a younger one with him.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I’m Enker Vastersen, Tireless Explorer Specialist. This is Misten Onsulson, Elemental Archer Specialist. We’ve been sent to find you. We’re leaving at once.”
Lasgol relaxed and let go of his weapons. “We’re leaving now?”
“Already?” Nilsa said, looking disappointed.
“The army’s already assembling in front of the Royal Castle.” Enker gestured with his thumb. “We need to get going.”
“Are you coming with me?”
“Yes, we’ve been assigned to help you guide the army.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Lasgol said. He knew that all the help he could get would be useful, particularly that of two Ranger Specialists.
“I know that area very well, the Frozen Territories,” Enker said. “I’ve had to go deep into them several times. Though I believe you know it too, right?”
“Not as well as an experienced Explorer,” Lasgol said, looking at him with respect. The veteran Specialist was blond and wore his hair tied in a queue in which silver strands were visible. Blue eyes in a hard face showed that he had lived through many experiences. “But yes, I know them. I’ve been to the area several times.”
“Good.” He nodded toward his partner. “Misten doesn’t know the area.”
“Most of my missions have been in the south of the kingdom,” Misten said. He looked four or five years older than Lasgol. “Around Orten’s duchy. That’s King Thoran’s brother.”
“We’ll wait for you outside,” Enker said. “Before you leave, call in on the second floor and get the gear you need. Ranger Helmond’s in charge of supplies, and he’ll give you whatever you need.” The two of them left the dining-hall.
“We’d better say goodbye,” Lasgol said to Nilsa.
She glanced at the other tables. “Better outside.”
Lasgol nodded and they went out to the tower stairs. There, away from prying eyes, they hugged tightly.
“Good luck,” she said.
“The same to you. See you soon.”
He went down a floor and picked up the equipment and food he would need. Helmond replenished the supply of herbs for his belt, and even gave him several ready-made elemental arrows. This seemed pure luxury to Lasgol, who thanked him. He fetched Trotter from the stables and joined Enker and Misten.
Commander Sven, First Ranger Gatik and no less than King Thoran himself, accompanied by his brother Orten and Count Volgren, were coming out of the castle, surrounded by the Royal Guard. Lasgol was impressed to see all the leaders of the East, who now controlled the crown and the kingdom, so close to him. Anyone could have reached out and seized them. Except that if he did, he would probably have his arm sliced off cleanly. It was not a good idea to get close to the lords of the Norghanian court. They spoke for a short time, then the King went back to his castle with his brother and the count, followed by the Guard.
Sven and Gatik mounted two magnificent stallions. As they went to join the soldiers, they passed next to Lasgol and clearly recognized him. He nodded respectfully and kept his head bowed as they passed. The Commander of the Guard and the First Ranger returned the greeting, their own being short and military, and went on without a word.
“Wow, you have important friends,” Enker said, impressed by what he had just seen.
“I wouldn’t call them friends, more like acquaintances.”
“Important ones, either way.”
“I’ll grant you that. Are they coming with us?”
“It looks like it,” Enker said, watching them leave the castle.
“Isn’t it strange? Shouldn’t it be a general leading the mission?” Lasgol found it odd that two such significant people, the King’s right and left hands, should be leading it.
“Everything about this expedition is pretty strange,” Misten said. He indicated five riders who were approaching them from another of the castle towers.
Lasgol recognized them at once. They were unmistakable. They wore long white robes with silver motifs, and their long straight hair was as white as those robes. The staves they held in one hand, and the horses they rode were white. Everything about them, in fact, was snow-white. They were not soldiers, but Ice Magi. At their head was Mage Eicewald. Unlike the others, he was as strong as a Royal Guard, and his eyes, black as night, seemed out of place in his pale Norghanian face. They made you feel uneasy when you looked at them. He stopped beside Lasgol, as did the other four magi.
“Lasgol Eklund,” the King’s Mage greeted him courteously.
“Sir,” Lasgol re
plied, equally courteously.
“I’m glad to see you, Ranger.”
“Thank you, my lord Mage of the King.”
“War usually takes many good men, among them Rangers who serve the Crown. I’m glad you’ve survived. Have they brought you up to date with the situation?”
“Yes, sir. Our leader Gondabar, informed me of how things are, and the mission I have to carry out.”
“Excellent. You are to be our guide.”
“It’s an honor.”
“You’ve been in the Frozen Territories and faced the Frozen Specter. There’s nobody better to guide us to it.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Good. We’ll speak later on.” The Mage nodded again and went on with the other four Ice Magi.
Enker gave a long whistle. “Since when do you know all the heavyweight figures of the Court?”
“Those magi have left me stone cold,” Misten protested. He was shaking himself as if trying to get warm.
“Quite honestly, they’d impress the bravest of braves,” said Lasgol.
“Particularly that Eicewald,” Enker said, shaking his head. “What eyes! They say he practices dark magic …”
“I doubt it. They’re Ice Magi who specialize in Elemental Magic of Water. And from what I’ve seen of Eicewald, he’s a scholar too. I don’t think he practices dark magic.”
Enker shrugged. “Well, you know more than we do.”
“Are they true … the rumors about the Specter?” Misten asked.
“I don’t know the rumors,” Lasgol said, “but it’s real and very dangerous, that much I can assure you.”
“So much for our luck,” Misten grumbled.
“But it’s not a Specter, is it?” Enker asked.
Lasgol shrugged. “I don’t know what it is. It might be a Specter or not. That’s something the Magi will decide. I’m only a Ranger.”
“Then we’re screwed,” Misten muttered.
“And can you tell us everything you know?” Enker asked.
“Yes, of course, but now we’d better get going. I think they’re waiting for us,”
They mounted and left the castle. In the main avenue three thousand infantry soldiers were lined up in formation, with their red and white scaled armor and winged helmets, round shields and war axes in hand, ready to march.
Lasgol and his two comrades advanced to the head, where Sven was waiting, together with two dozen Royal Guards, and Gatik with another dozen Royal Rangers. When he glanced back he saw the five Ice Magi catching up after stopping to pick up a couple of travelling-bags which a couple of craftsmen had handed to them. They took their place behind Sven and Gatik’s groups.
Once they were all in position there was a tense, nervous silence. The campaign for the Frozen Territories was under way.
Sven raised his sword to the sky when Eicewald gave him a nod. “Move on!” he ordered.
Lasgol and his two comrades set off, with the army following them. As they rode down the great avenue toward the southern gate of the city, the citizens hurried to see them leave, and a crowd gathered all along both sides of the avenue. They were being sent off amid applause and cries of support and celebration. The people had not seen their army for some time, and although it was ominous to see them leaving for fear of what they might bring back, Norghanians were always proud to watch the best infantry of the continent setting off to battle. The soldiers felt the warm support of their people and marched on, their chests swollen with pride.
When they crossed the gate, Lasgol turned to his comrades.
“I’m going to fetch my familiar, my snow panther. I’ll be back in a moment. Head north along the main road. I’ll be back in no time.”
It did not take him long to reach the forest where he had left his two friends. When he called Camu and Ona they appeared at once, surprised by how quickly he had come back for them. They had not been expecting him for at least a couple of days more. Lasgol explained the mission very quickly, because he did not want to lag behind too long. It would make a bad impression if the Ranger in charge of leading the troops fell behind the moment he had left the capital.
Go north? Camu asked, transmitting a feeling of worry.
I’m afraid so. We’re going to deal with the threat of the Wild Ones of the Ice and the Ice Specter.
Wild Ones fun, Specter not fun, Camu transmitted. Lasgol understood his meaning perfectly well. He did not mind facing the Wild Ones, whom he considered stupid brutes, but the Specter was something very different.
I know. I feel the same. They’re the King’s orders. There’s nothing we can do. We have to follow them.
Better be careful.
Camu’s warning left Lasgol very uneasy. Camu was very rarely afraid of anything, but for some reason he was afraid of the Ice Specter, which was a very bad sign.
During the journey, stay half a league away and don’t come near the soldiers. All right?
When I join?
When we reach the Frozen Territories.
All right.
One more thing: five Ice Magi are with us, so you’ll feel their magical power. Stay away from them and don’t interfere with their magic. I don’t want them to find you out.
I well-behaved. Not prevent magic.
That’s a good boy. We’ll have enough trouble with the Wild Ones and the Specter, and I don’t want any problems with the Magi as well.
No problem.
Good. Ona, you come with me and don’t move from my side, not even two paces. There are too many soldiers, and I don’t trust them. They could be very aggressive toward you.
Ona growled affirmatively.
Right then, let’s go.
Lasgol rejoined the head of the formation, with Ona beside him, keeping close to Trotter, who snorted every now and then, so that Lasgol had to soothe him.
“What a beauty!” Misten exclaimed when he saw her.
Lasgol smiled. “So she is.”
“A magnificent specimen, yes sir,” Enker agreed.
Lasgol jabbed his thumb behind him. “If you could lend me a hand to protect her from all those soldiers, I’d be grateful.”
“Don’t mention it,” Misten said. “We’d be delighted to help.”
“You know what soldiers are like. Particularly on campaign.”
“We know,” Enker chuckled. “We’d better stay together, the three of us, and away from them. The soldiers aren’t like us, they don’t have our sensitivity to nature and animals. They only care for military matters and killing.”
“Yeah, you’re not far off the mark there,” said Lasgol.
“I’ve been dealing with them for quite a few years. We Rangers understand one another, and we see things differently to how they do. Often I wonder whether their brains are taken out when they’re training. I swear to you, the impression I get is that they’re no smarter than watchdogs. And they don’t know much beyond how to bite.” Enker pretended to look horrified.
“Smart, what people would call smart … that’s something they really aren’t,” Misten said, and laughed.
Enker did the same, and Lasgol smiled too, though he looked back unobtrusively to make sure nobody was listening. They were a hundred paces ahead of the beginning of the column, so that they were safe from being overheard, for which he was grateful. It was not that he had a bad image of the Norghanian soldiers, but Misten and Enker were perfectly correct. Soldiers and Rangers were very different in the training they had been given and in their way of seeing the world, as well as the ways in which they faced problems and carried out orders. Lasgol tried not to regard Rangers as superior to soldiers, but in many respects they were. Perhaps the exceptions were hand-to-hand combat and assaults on buildings and walls, where the Norghanian soldiers had no rival. Lasgol acknowledged these virtues, but not many more. When it came to thinking for themselves, looking for solutions to complex problems, survival in mountains and forests, they were hopeless. All the same, he was glad to have three thousand Norghanian soldiers w
ith him, strong and trained to kill. He had an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was going to need them all.
“Much better to surround yourself with Rangers,” he commented under his breath.
“That’s for sure,” Enker said with a broad smile.
The first days of the march were quiet. Lasgol, Enker and Misten took turns, so that two of them were always half a league ahead and exploring to make sure they met with no trouble. It was unlikely now that the war was over, but a Ranger who did not look ahead was a dead Ranger. So said the Path. The troops advanced slowly, even choosing broad roads in good condition, compared with those the Rangers were used to, but they would have to adapt. Infantry soldiers were hard as rock and strong as an ox, but quick, in any sense of the word, they were not. They went on steadily, all at the same military pace which ensured they could cover long distances – but slowly.
At night they camped on the road itself, lit campfires and put up wide red-and-white tents. They set up watch posts and rested. Sven and his Royal Guards did so alone in a group around a fire beside an enormous, beautifully-made tent, worthy of a wealthy nobleman. Gatik and the Royal Rangers made up another group with Ranger tents, which were small but very well-made. The Magi formed a third group around a fire, with a round, snow-white tent on whose surface Lasgol could make out silver runes. He supposed they would protect against other types of magic, though he had no idea which. Nobody went near the Magi’s fire, since everybody respected and feared them – the latter more than the former. There were few things a Norghanian soldier feared more than magic. The soldiers formed a hundred separate groups. Lasgol and his two comrades rested together a little ahead and observed this curious night-time military formation.
For a couple of weeks, they went on without complications. The weather was good, and the soldiers were holding up well. At first Ona was wary of Enker and Misten, which both they and Lasgol knew was normal in a great cat. The two Rangers treated her as if she were the fourth member of the team they had formed with Lasgol, and gradually, as the days went by, they earned the trust of both Ona and Lasgol. As they were experienced Ranger Specialists, both Lasgol and Ona felt very comfortable with them. They were excellent company, and he knew that when the moment of truth came, he could trust both of them.
