Into the Madness

by Richard H. Stephens

  He swallowed hard, staring into Alhena’s milky white eyes, his vision clouding. Despite the lump in his throat, he blurted out, “Melody?”

  Alhena patted the back of Rook’s hand, his voice full of compassion. “Yes, Rook. Melody Bowman.”

  Thunderstruck, Rook leaned forward. “B-but how? How do you know her?”

  Alhena’s eyes moistened. He lowered his gaze to the ground in front of his crossed legs, clearly overcome with emotion.

  “She’s…she’s alive? Do you know where she is?”

  Alhena’s lips formed a tight smile. Without a word, he nodded.

  Rook’s eyes grew wild. He grasped Alhena’s cloak and shook him. “Where is she? Where’s Melody?” His shaking grew violent. Even if Alhena had tried to answer, Rook didn’t give him a chance. “How come you never told me? Why would you keep it to yourself? She’s my wife! Damn you, where is she?” His rising voice echoed throughout the Crypt.

  Olmar spoke up as he and Pollard grasped Rook’s arms and pried his fingers from Alhena’s clothing, “Rook, let go. You’s gonna shake Pop’s ‘ead off.”

  They pulled Rook to his feet. He shrugged free of their grasp and bent forward, glaring at Alhena who leaned backward as if he were about to be hit; his hands held out defensively in front of him.

  Rook heaved a great breath, trying to take the edge out of his voice. “Where is she, Alhena? She’s my wife. I have a right to know.”

  Alhena nodded several times and looked away. He rose to his feet, leaving his staff unattended and paced around the fire. All eyes tracked him until he came to a stop in front of Rook’s baleful glare. “Atop Dragon’s Tooth.”

  Rook stopped breathing for a few heartbeats. Of all the places he could think of, Dragon’s Tooth was the last place he expected to hear.

  “The only person who lives there is—”

  Alhena inclined his head. “The Wizard of the North.”

  Bewilderment replaced Rook’s angst. His eyes grew wide, darting about as the relevance sank in. “You mean, she’s the…the…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it.

  “Aye. The Wizard of the North.”

  “But, but how? We’re talking about Melody, right? My wife. She can’t be the Wizard of the North. Heck, she couldn’t start a fire if her life depended on it. I don’t believe you.”

  Alhena shrugged. “I cannot help what you choose to believe but hear me when I tell you, your wife is alive and well, and holds the highest title in the arcane world.”

  “But she’s a woman.” Rook spotted Sadyra and Larina staring hard at him and held up his hands. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounds. I just…Wizards are men. Women are witches, or sorceresses or something like that.”

  “Aye, the word wizard does tend to invoke the thought of a man.” Alhena interceded before either of the women had a go at Rook. “As such, having Melody become the Wizard of the North is, if I do say so myself, a masterstroke of mine.”

  Rook frowned. “Masterstroke? You’re the one responsible for her disappearance?” His eyes hardened at the thought.

  “It was the only way to protect her.”

  Rook clenched his fists. Alhena was brazenly admitting to taking Melody away. He had an insatiable urge to smash Alhena’s upturned nose. He cocked his right arm, but Alhena’s last words stayed him.

  “What do you mean, protect her? From what?”

  Alhena sighed. “It is a long story, and a hard one for me to tell. Please, sit back down. Now that you know the truth, you deserve to hear why.”

  Rook seethed. “Deserve to hear why? You’re damn right I deserve to know. If you’re responsible for her disappearance, I deserve the right to kill you, that’s what I deserve.”

  Olmar and Pollard exchanged glances.

  Rook sensed the giants’ unease. He didn’t care. If what Alhena told him was true, the old man had robbed him and Melody of their lives. He didn’t care why or how. Twenty-three years had been taken from them. Any dreams they may have had of raising a family and enjoying each other through their more vibrant years had been stolen. And for what?

  His right hand fingered the handle of the old dagger protruding from its sheath along his belt. His eyes flicked to Alhena’s staff lying on the ground. The old man was defenseless.

  A soft hand covered his. He turned to see Sadyra.

  She gave him a subtle shake of her head. “Give Gramps a chance to explain himself.”

  Rook’s breaths were ragged. He didn’t trust himself to respond to Sadyra in a decent way.

  “Come on,” Sadyra whispered. “I’m not happy with what he said either, but wouldn’t you rather hear the why of his actions before you do something you might regret? If you aren’t satisfied after that…” She shrugged.

  Rook stared into her storm-grey eyes. As cocky and hot-blooded as Sadyra tended to be, he knew she possessed a good soul. He regarded her through the tears clouding his vision and gave her a subtle nod.

  Sadyra released his hand and moved away.

  Through bleary eyes, Rook found Alhena. He tried hard to keep his lower lip from trembling. “Very well. I’ll give you a chance to explain before I kill you.”

  Alhena straightened his posture and threw back his shoulders, clearly bristling at the threat. “If you still feel that way after you hear me out, I will not stand in your way.”

  Alhena’s words knocked the stuffing out of the retort Rook prepared to throw at him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and waited.

  “As I explained, Ignis foresaw Mase’s death. My duty was to protect her children. Yes, Silurian and Melody. It was imperative I hid them from Helleden’s minions. They had in their possession a means to detect magic users, especially strong ones like the Storms Ends.” Alhena looked straight at Rook. “Whether you believe it or not does not alter the fact your wife was…is adept in the use of magic. She is a diviner and a seer, though she has much to learn on both counts. I would be amiss not to say that in my estimation she has the potential to become more powerful than Thunor Carmichael if she learns to push aside her self-doubt and throw herself completely into her craft. Until then, she is vulnerable.”

  Rook stared in disbelief.

  “Anyway, to explain my role in her abduction…” He paused and let the word settle in. “That is right, I abducted her.”

  Rook tensed, not sure he could stop himself from attacking Alhena.

  Alhena held up a hand. “It was a necessary evil. Trust me, it had to be done. Not just to save her life, but to save the lives of everyone in the kingdom.”

  Olmar uncharacteristically growled at Alhena. “Fat lot o’ good that did, huh?”

  “You are right. I was unable to prevent the sacking of Zephyr.” Alhena’s voice sounded remorseful. “But we can still save those who survived.”

  “You aren’t making any sense. What’s my wife got to do with this?”

  “Everything. Without her, Ignis predicted all five of the realms that once made up the Great Kingdom would be lost. As for myself, I am not privy to Ignis’ visions. The last time I saw him alive, he sent me out to seek the Aberrator’s aid. Ignis had foreseen Mase’s death, but she had disappeared from Storms End before we got to her.

  “Mase knew of her special ability and experienced much grief as a result. She and her protector, Zorn Mintaka, slipped away from Storms End, eventually making their way to the foothills below Cliff Face where they faded into obscurity. Until Helleden’s minions tracked them down.

  “By the time I returned to Dragon’s Tooth with the necromancer, Ignis was gone. I searched for him until I encountered the Grimward and we learned of Ignis’ passing. Without the Aberrator’s special art, I would never have found Mase. Once we discovered where she had gone, the Aberrator and I hung low, awaiting that fateful day when Helleden’s minions came calling. We tried to put them off, but they were too much for us. I saw Silurian and Melody flee into the mountains during the night. With the Aberrator’s help, I lured Helleden’s creatures away from the Mi
ntaka homestead in an effort to conceal the children’s trail. The minions tracked us up the Slither where we were forced to engage in a futile battle. If not for the intervention of a wandering troop of Kraidic warriors led by the formidable emperor, Krakus the Kraken no less, we might not have survived that day.

  “For whatever reason, from that point onward, Helleden stopped searching out magic users. At least that is what we believed. The Aberrator returned to his home to prepare for my eventual return to the Gulch so that I could fulfill my end of the bargain.”

  “If you knew of Silurian and Melody’s existence, why did you allow them to suffer the dangers of Mount Cinder?” Rook asked. Seeing Alhena’s surprise, he added, “You don’t think they told me what they went through following their parents’ death? She was my wife! They were almost killed several times before King Peter took them into his household.”

  “I searched Cliff Face but couldn’t find any trace of them. The mountains are vast. For all I knew, they had fled south. When I found out King Peter had taken them under his protection I backed off. Ignis and the Grimward were implicit. If the siblings were to someday make a difference in the fight against Helleden, they must be left to find their own way. Any intervention on my part would surely bring attention to them. For them to remain undetected by Helleden, I had to leave them be.”

  “Pfft. Surely you could’ve appointed a non-magical person to safeguard them, even from a distance.”

  “Like I said, I was advised against interfering, but,” he held a finger up, “I could not in good conscience just let them be. So, I became a cleric and took up a position in the Svelte household as a keeper of records. To do so I had to assume my new persona and abstain from any form of magic, lest Helleden became aware of me, and thus, Silurian and Melody.

  “I worked my way into the inner circle of the Royal House’s personal servants. That afforded me access to the records in the Vaults of Lore preserved beneath Castle Svelte. From there, I did keep an eye on Silurian and Melody as best as I could without arousing suspicion. Like I mentioned a while back, I entered Castle Svelte with the king’s blessing.

  “I was there, upon the Plains of Lugubrius, when Helleden’s forces threatened to breach the walls of Carillon. I stood over King Peter as he died, afraid to intervene for fear of Helleden becoming aware of my presence. Not because I was a coward, but to keep from alerting the sorcerer to the fact that someone was about to enter the fray and dispose of him. I cannot explain how hard it was not to intervene. King Peter ordered me to never expose my true identity. Being forbidden the chance to save Peter slew my soul, but I dared not risk Silurian or Melody’s life. King or no, the siblings’ lives were paramount to the grand design.”

  “Letting King Peter die was part of your grand design?” Rook hocked and spat, something no one had seen him do before.

  Alhena inclined his head. “It wasn’t until Silurian and the Group of Five arrived that our deception became evident. Helleden knew at once that Silurian was Mase’s boy. I believe he suspected all along that Mase had children but when Silurian confronted him, he knew.

  “That knowledge changed the outcome of the battle. Helleden slew Javen, Helvius and Alcyonne, but he spared you. Perhaps as a means to track Silurian, I do not know. Whatever the case, as soon as Silurian’s identity became known to him, he surrendered.

  Rook bristled. The three were like brothers to him. “Surrendered himself? How can you stand there and say that? I distracted Helleden with an arrow while Silurian drove his sword through his back. There’s no way Helleden surrendered.”

  Alhena smiled ruefully. “Helleden let Silurian get close to him. He channeled the power of Silurian’s sword to affect his escape.”

  “Escape? Why would he do that? He was about to take the castle.”

  “Because, my troubled friend, when Helleden discovered Silurian’s true nature, the sorcerer’s primary directive took over. As we have recently discovered, Helleden’s actions were driven by the Soul. Helleden had searched the lands for a human vessel strong enough to contain the Soul’s spirit. Discovering that Mase had children who lived, he believed they were the ones the Soul sought. If he had killed Silurian that day, I imagine the Soul would have exacted an extreme retribution on Helleden. The sorcerer did the next best thing. He drained the magic from the Group of Five’s enchanted weapons to facilitate his departure.” Alhena nodded. “Aye, the glow from your weapons died that day, did they not?”

  Rook glanced at the bow strapped over his shoulder.

  “From that point onward, Silurian and anyone related to him was no longer safe. I feared Helleden had gleaned knowledge of Silurian’s sister.

  “Looking back, I am not sure if Helleden was hindered from returning to Zephyr, but at the time, I felt I had no choice but to react. Through tests I cannot explain to you sufficiently to make any sense, I knew Melody had inherited her mother’s ability.

  “My years as Wizard of the North were numbered. I needed someone to take my place, and yet, I knew I must protect Silurian as well. I couldn’t do both until Melody’s life was secure. Since Helleden was attuned to Silurian, hiding him would prove problematic if Helleden returned to the five realms. But Melody—as far as I knew—was an unknown commodity.”

  “Commodity?” Rook was incredulous. “That’s all we are to you? Pieces of merchandise to dispense of as you see fit?”

  Alhena shook his head. “No, of course not. You are twisting my words—”

  “That’s what you said.” Rook looked at the others. “Did he not say that?”

  Pollard’s brows knit together. “Aye, but I don’t think he meant it that way. Hear him out.”

  Rook shook his head, glaring at Alhena to continue.

  “An ill choice of words. My apologies.” Alhena folded his hands together. “Being a rather accomplished wizard, I suspected what the disappearance of Helleden’s body on the battlefield augured. He hadn’t been killed. I had no way of telling when or where he would return, so I acted. During the feast celebrating the victory and King Peter’s life, I chose my time and spirited Melody away.

  “I have asked myself many times over the last two decades, would I have done things differently had I known Helleden would not return for another nineteen years? I keep coming back with the same answer. No. The only way to save Melody’s life was to take it from her.

  “It grieved me seeing her stashed away on Dragon’s Tooth. Who was I to decide her life for her, and, for a certainty, the happiness of those close to her? As Wizard of the North, it was my moral obligation to attend to the greater picture. If I had not intervened, I guarantee Melody would, at the very least, have been dragged into the Under Realm and subjugated by the Soul. Had she proven strong enough, her presence would have freed the beast.”

  Olmar cleared his throat. “An’ you believe she was strong enough?”

  “Without a doubt. She was—is—stronger than Silurian, especially in this regard.”

  “An’ if’n we can believe your words, we’d all be dead now were that the case.”

  Alhena raised his eyebrows. “That I cannot say for sure. I cannot know what was in the Soul’s mind. I can only speculate that life as we know it would have drastically changed. We may have become fodder for his minions or mutated to become part of the horde.” He shrugged. “No one can really know.”

  Olmar nodded slowly but said no more.

  “I truly believe I did the only thing that made sense at the time. Training Melody to rise to her full glory and succeed me as Wizard of the North. She required the intervening years to accomplish everything her and I went through. I assure you, she is smarter and wiser than any person I have ever known. She is also the strongest, but until she proves herself, she may never realize her potential. Going forward, she must be included in our plans if we wish to end Helleden once and for all. I see it now.”

  Alhena studied the ground for a few moments. When he looked up, he stared Rook straight on. “I cannot, in good conscience, ex
pect you to forgive what I did. For what it is worth, I have never forgiven myself. Melody is like a granddaughter to me. She is the only family I have. I love her more dearly than life itself. Through her innocence and beautiful outlook on life, she has transformed this cantankerous old curmudgeon into a man who appreciates all the wondrous things life offers to those wise enough to enjoy it. I realized this at her expense. I only hope I can see her one last time before I leave this world to let her know how sorry I am. Your wife is truly one of a kind.” Tears dripped unabashedly from Alhena’s face. He didn’t bother to wipe them away.

  Rook clenched his teeth. His eyes narrowed and his breathing came in short, heavy spurts. He wiped his eyes—a hundred different things needing to be said whirled through his mind.

  He couldn’t decide whether to kill the old man for robbing him of Melody or thanking him for keeping her safe. If what he claimed was true, Melody would be dead had Alhena not done what he did. Perhaps, in a bastardized, maniacal fashion, Alhena had done him a favour, but his intense hurt and sense of betrayal prevented his anger from abating.

  An arrow to the heart would be merciful. He fingered his dagger. Perhaps he should just cut out those disgusting eyes and leave the man to wander the Crypt in real darkness—like the way his life had been without Melody at his side.

  He hated what this staggering revelation was doing to him. He found he finally appreciated the madness Silurian had fallen into all those years ago.

  “If’n it’s all the same to everyone ‘ere, I’d like to say me piece.”

  Rook shot Olmar an angry glare but remained silent.

  Olmar doffed his cap and bowed his head. “I ain’t to bein’ the smartest like, but I’m seein’ the right of Pops’ words. I cannae imagine the torture it ‘as been for ‘im, and surely for all involved, to ‘ave endured such a cruel fate. All I know is it sounds like what ‘e did ‘e did to save this Melody lassie. From what I’m to be seein’ around this fire, she is to be a special lady. In my mind, to know she still lives, far outweighs what was done, right or not. If’n she still be alive, we cannae be nothin’ but thankful for that grace.” He sucked his lips in and chewed on them, his demeanour bashful at having tried to speak philosophically.