by BJ Hanlon
“And the immediate area surrounding?” General Albe said glancing at Edin, “have you seen,” he swallowed as if trying to catch his breath or his thoughts, “any dematians?”
“There’ve been reports,” the man said, “you’re certain they are dematians?”
“The young warrior here has stated that they are.” He motioned for Edin to come over with his great, calloused hands. Hands of a farmer and a warrior. “Young sir, tell the Regent what your mission is.”
Edin moved up. He felt the eyes of the men, as well as three guards who stood behind the Regent, on him. “I am going to Calerrat on Duke Sinndilo’s orders.”
“Sinndilo?” he questioned, “what happened to Ashtol?”
Edin looked at the general. “He died in an attack by the dematian king.” Then glancing back at the Regent, “and his thunderwyrm.”
“A thunderwyrm?” someone said.
Vicker said, “What’s that?” While there were a few other shocked gasps and exclamations. The guard behind the Regent seemed to flinch and clench his sword quite firmly.
“You’re serious?” Asked the Regent.
Edin nodded.
“There are two types of wyrms. Fire and thunder,” Arianne said stepping forward. “At least that was the legend I was told.”
“I have also heard of ice,” said the Regent, though he was looking thoughtfully at Edin.
“What happened to the army? Did it scatter under that attack?” It was the head guard and there was fear in his voice.
Edin shook his head. “The army defends the north near Glustown.”
“And what of the wyrm? Surely it destroyed everyone.”
“It was slain,” Edin paused, he glanced at Nona who’d moved next to her daughter on the loveseat. Melian was bandaged but looked alright albeit a bit pale.
Edin glanced to Arianne and then back to the Regent. “There was a mage in the army’s ranks. He did something and the wyrm exploded.”
The fat Regent wiped his brow with a cloth and then reached for a metal goblet on the desk while whispering, “My gods.”
Edin thought for a moment that he was cross-eyed.
General Albe looked at Edin and shifted uncomfortably. “And what happened with the mage?” the general asked. “Did the Por Fen slay him on the spot?”
“Some wished to,” Edin said carefully. “Sinndilo would not let them.”
“Mages, dematians, wyrms,” The guard said as the Regent sat back in his chair.
Then the Regent spoke. “Is there any more wine? No, whiskey; this calls for whiskey. Heck bring wine and whiskey, lots of it. And goblets, enough for all of us.” He clapped his hands, damp sweaty hands, and a secret door opened and a guard went through it.
Now the head guard said, “Next you’ll say that the world is still filled with dwarves and giants and elves and great sea beasts that can swallow entire ships whole.”
Edin didn’t respond.
They drank and it felt good. Relaxing in the quiet with the somber drinking no one made a toast.
A pair of servants walked platters, with either a carafe or a decanter on it, around the room filling glasses when needed.
Edin, who moved to another loveseat next to Arianne, drank slowly. He thought about what it was he had to do. What it was he was to do next.
Calerrat. That was his plan but then what? Did he find a ship and sail off to the southern isles and hope that the dematians and Yio Volor wouldn’t follow?
Then what of his friends? His family? What of this world? Would it stay dark forever? Was he only allowing Arianne and he to live a little longer and in fear?
Edin was twisting his cup in his hand when Arianne whispered, “What’s wrong?”
Edin had no response. Everything, was the correct answer but he just smiled and shrugged. There wasn’t much else he could say.
After a while, someone asked, “What is it we should do?”
Edin was lost in thought and did not notice they were looking at him until a nudge from Arianne.
“I am unsure,” Edin said, “but I must go to Calerrat.”
“They’re Resholtian,” Hotep said, “there’s no way we’d be allowed to cross their border let alone get into their city.”
“They will kill me on sight,” General Albe said.
“I’m not asking you all to come with me,” Edin said and it was quiet again for a bit.
“It is the largest city with the highest walls anywhere near here,” said Nona seeming to try and convince herself, or maybe her husband, that it is where they should go.
“Resholt or not, I believe they’ll put aside their hate for you with the much bigger threat on the horizon,” Arianne said. “After all, we’re fighting the same enemies.”
There were some nods and grunts around the room, but most seemed pensive and hesitant.
“My dear Regent,” Nona said, “do you by chance have chambers to offer? My daughter is not in the best of way.”
“Yes of course.” He stood, his face was quite red now. “We do not allow commoners to sleep in the manor. It is not good to have the young baron to grow up with those types running in his halls. But since you are of course the great general, and this is your family, I will find a place for you.”
“Thank you, sir,” General Albe said and stood up, shook the Regent’s arm, and then went to stand before Edin who was already standing. “If we do not see you again, good luck.”
He reached out and took Edin’s hand. “You as well. Thank you for saving our lives.”
“I hope that it proves a good thing in this war.” He eyed Edin carefully. “We’ll need all the weapons we can get.”
The family then left following a servant outside. A moment later, Edin was about to go when he had a thought. One that had occurred to him before. “Regent,” he turned, the old man slowly looked up from his goblet, his jowls wobbling and his face very flush. “Valer. That doesn’t have anything to do with Volor does it? Are they the same?”
“Do you mean Yio Volor?”
Edin nodded and at first the Regent held a scared, confused face and then he scrunched it up and said, “Valer means Green Lands, in Ultapish.”
“Volor is just a name,” Arianne said, “an evil one.”
“Yes,” said the Regent, “but some old translations have it meaning headwaters.”
“That’s an elvish translation,” Arianne said.
“Yes,” the man said, and wrinkled his brow again. “How does a young one such as you know that language?”
“My mother loved languages,” she said and sounded very sincere.
Edin asked, “you know elven too?”
“Among many other things.” The Regent said then he stood, tilted slightly before holding himself by pressing his chubby hands to the desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must return to my chambers.”
The head guard asked, “Where do you want them to stay?”
“Are you noble?”
Edin took a split second to decide and then shook his head.
“Find them a nice spot in the yard.” He offered an apologetic look.
“Thank you for your time,” Arianne said and curtseyed with all of the grace of a noble. The Regent looked confused again then walked away.
“Come, I’ll see what we got for ya.”
It was not a ‘nice spot’; it was just a normal spot.
As far as Edin could tell, even with the darkness, there were no ‘nice spots.’
They were around a small fire with a few girls and a boy, all a few years younger than Edin and Arianne. Well Arianne if she hadn’t been asleep for nearly a millennium.
They looked like siblings and two of the three girls were identical. They looked up as the guard leading Edin and Arianne approached.
“These two will share your fire,” the man said then turned to Edin, he opened his mouth as if to say something but didn’t. He simply nodded and disappeared into the dark void between their fire and the next.
They sat
down and Arianne leaned up against him. Her warmth was all they had as they didn’t take anything that was the general’s family’s, it didn’t feel right.
“Do you have a blanket?” one of the twin girls said.
“No,” Arianne said and Edin could feel her shiver though he felt alright.
“Here, take mine, I will share with my sister.” The girl got up and circled the fire. She was possibly fourteen and had the look of someone who’d one day be beautiful. She handed it to Arianne who wrapped it around them.
“Thank you very much,” Arianne said and closed her eyes.
After a few minutes, the kids all closed their eyes and only Edin was awake. He watched the other fires in the camp. They looked dark, even with the flames. He could see glowing eyes, the reflections off of metal or glass.
Some people were asleep, many others were still awake. There were soldiers or guards walking around and Edin saw Faydoran walking past. Then the man glanced at Edin and quickly walked away while looking over his shoulder.
Edin felt like he was being watched though he could barely keep his eyes open. Being in this mass of humanity felt weird. It felt like he’d be stabbed in the back at any moment.
4
Separate ways
A tension pervaded his nerves all night. He felt like eyes were on him at all times.
Edin drifted between awake and asleep through most of the night. At points, Arianne lay on the ground, cuddled in the blanket while he shook himself to keep watch and tend the fire.
When a guard or two came close, he fingered Mirage’s hilt and would watch until the man or men disappeared.
Edin drifted a bit later while seated and then woke when he felt like he was falling.
No matter how deep into the night it got, the tension did not ease. He gritted his teeth and watched, trying hard to stay awake and wishing he had some coffee. Edin fell asleep and woke with a start at least another time, maybe twice more.
Then as the night turned into the barely discernable dawn, he got up.
There were few people moving about and he walked a bit of the garden, though he always kept Arianne in his sight.
He passed guards who nodded to him. Women who looked up from their pots where they were cooking breakfast. He walked past outhouses, many of them, and they looked more like roughly constructed sheds then solid waste bathrooms. They lined the rear corner of the wall and no camps came within twenty yards. The smell was awful and he wondered how long the town had been holed up here.
As he was turning back, he saw a large figure heading toward their fire. He started to hustle. A girl, just getting out of a small tent, nearly tripped him.
“Wash it!” she cried but may have meant ‘watch out,’ or something of that nature.
He ignored her yelp and hopped between a few other tents and around fires before he saw it was Hotep striding toward them. He heard the commotion and turned to Edin; a smile rose on his face.
“Hey there,” he said, “glad to see you’re awake.”
Edin slowed and then stopped. “Didn’t get a lot of sleep.”
“Listen,” he lowered his voice. It sounded quite a bit more conspiratorial. “Papa want to see ya,” he whispered.
“What about?”
“Not here.”
Edin turned to Arianne who was looking up from her blanket. She pushed it aside and stood.
“Where then?”
“I call it a porch, Papa calls it a veranda. It’s on the side of the house.”
Edin nodded.
Hotep then headed back as Edin sat down next to Arianne. “Did you sleep?” she asked.
Edin waivered his hand like a rocky sea.
The veranda had a few potted plants that a servant was watering. Though without much more than the dot of sun, Edin had no idea how long they’d last. He wondered if the world had already started dying in the north. If the swamps were spreading further and faster.
Then he saw the old general in a chair and next to him was Nona and Melian.
When they locked eyes, Albe said, “Come lad, have a seat.” He pointed to a bench that was built into the railing across from him. Edin and Arianne did.
After a moment he said, “This place is not as well guarded as I’d hoped.”
Edin nodded. “I saw, the walls are short, the gate weak—”
“Exactly, that is why I want you to take my family with you.” He cleared his throat and looked to Nona. “To that city.”
“Papa what do you mean?” Melian said too loud.
“Keep it down, Melian,” hushed Nona.
“I cannot enter Resholt, even if Sinndilo sent you as an ambassador.”
Edin swallowed. Of course he had no letters of introduction or anything that said he was an ambassador to Resholt… of course it was because he wasn’t one.
His given mission was completely different. One he’d clearly failed.
“So, if you are certain you can enter Calerrat, if you can help save my family, we will be repaid for saving you.”
“And what of you?” Edin asked. He glanced at Hotep who stood behind his father with his arms crossed.
“My son and I are heading south. We will take a ship to Alestow and seek out the army. I still have my wits about me and could offer much experience.”
Edin took a moment and thought about it. He looked at Nona and Melian and then thought of the child and his mother.
Arianne spoke. “Sir, we take a dangerous route through the Forest of Dorr, there are said to be thieves and cutthroats.”
“I’d think one who has slain a thunderwyrm could handle thieves and cutthroats,” Albe said.
Edin said nothing. He glanced at Arianne who was looking at him appraisingly then she spoke. “And what of the city here and the Regent and these people?”
He sighed. “They intend to defend their homeland and the women and children.”
“So just us,” Edin said, “me, three women, and a boy?”
“Yes.”
“We would take them with us to Resholt,” said Arianne and paused slowly in a bit of a dramatic fashion, “but we are want for supplies.”
“That will not be a problem. My son and I need little. The seaport is less than a day’s march south. The wagon and the horses are yours.” He then pulled out a small sack and tossed it to Edin.
Edin snagged it from the air and knew instantly what was inside. Coins, and a lot of them. “For expenses only,” Edin said, “if we come across any.”
“Good lad,” he said. “Now, we must be off soon. I have a feeling we’ll need to be.”
They packed the cart and everyone but Edin and Hotep got on. Edin noticed young boys and girls looking up at them with curiosity while the older folks that looked on them seemed to plead for help with their eyes but none said a word to them.
At the gate to the manor, the Regent stood with a boy of about eight. The kid was too pudgy; he puffed out his chest with his shoulders back and held his head high. He looked like he was trying too hard to be seen as a noble.
“Baron de Valer,” the Regent said, “General Albe and his companions.”
The boy looked at him and smiled. “General, I hope you enjoyed my hospitality.”
“I did very much Baron.”
“Then next time, you must tell me of your exploits. I am very much intrigued by the great General Albe the Slayer.”
The general’s jaw seemed to tighten; the regent’s and an older guard’s did as well. But the man Edin knew as Papa just nodded his head.
If Edin had to guess, he’d say the general was in his late sixties, early seventies. He probably retired around twenty years ago. If the boy knew of him, his exploits must’ve been grand… or notorious.
The Regent was a teacher like Master Horston, a drunk teacher, but a teacher nonetheless. He’d most likely told the lad about the general.
“Good day, baron,” Papa said and bowed. They all followed suit.
“It is not really day though, is it?” the you
ng baron stated. “Maybe we will never see the sun again.” It was odd how the kid said it, like a child reading a book and playing a game of soldiers and bandits. Like no matter if they died, they’d simply be able to start the game over.
Edin had to wonder if maybe that were true. Who knew anymore? He’d fought beasts of legend and fairytale, met ancient men, slept with an ancient princess, and spoke directly to Vestor.
Then he remembered that Yio Volor was coming.
Edin swallowed and stopped wondering about that now. It’d be of no use. They had to get away from this.
The group left through the gate and followed a road to the east.
It went for a while before turning south around the manor’s wall that was nearly a hundred yards away. They passed between boarded up apartments and inns and taverns. There were small animals darting in and out. Chickens were perched on top of roofs or in the eaves of buildings.
There were sounds of few people moving about though no one was truly seen. Only shadows in their dark world.
Then the cart began to slow. The homes on the right and left dropped to small paddocks and then they ended with an open field that held a symphony of crickets and cooing wind.
In the field, Edin thought he could see a skeleton tied to a stake. He hoped not.
They travelled further, but only a short way. There was a crossroad before them and it was dark on all sides and slightly damp. They could barely orientate with the sun but the general pulled out a compass, something Edin had seen maybe once in the Dancing Crane. It was a device that helped him tell the direction.
The general looked at it and then said, “We shall follow this path,” he was pointing forward. “You are to go west.” He pointed to their right. “The road goes up to the forest that straddles the states. Do not take any turns. Then when you are there, follow the same road through the forest if you can. Just know they are seldom used and often overgrown.”
“Papa,” Melian whined in a way that sounded like a ten-year-old. Like the baron.
