by T J Trapp
Alec wondered if the man thought their positions were reversed. He speaks as though he is in charge, not us, thought Alec to Erin.
“What was the purpose of your raid?” asked Harl.
“We are to gather as many slaves as we can and destroy the Grasslands villages that we encounter. We are to bring the slaves to the Fortress.”
“What is ‘the Fortress’?” Alec asked.
Zag shrugged. “It is a Fortress. I have never been there.”
“Where is this Fortress?” Harl asked. “As a soldier at Octavin, I knew of many enemy encampments and fortifications, but I never heard of a fortress that needs large numbers of slaves.”
“Somewhere.” Zag shrugged again, and then, perhaps sensing that Harl was not pleased with that answer, added, “The Captain knew where we were going but didn’t tell us foot soldiers. He told us that we were to be gone at least a few more weeks.”
“Why did you need so many slaves?” Harl asked. “What were you going to do with them?”
“I have no idea,” Zag said.
“All that this man has said is true,” Erin said to Harl.
Like Alec and Erin, Harl had been captured by the soldiers to become a slave. But, unlike the other two, he had been taken from his home. The disaster that had befallen his village weighed heavily on his mind. His line of questioning changed.
“Did you go on raids to villages?” asked Harl. The man nodded.
“Did you kill anyone in the villages?” Harl asked.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” the man growled, looking down at his knees.
“That is a lie!” said Erin. Then, with a little kick towards the man, “Tell the truth.”
“Okay, okay! Okay, maybe once I had to kill a person in self-defense.”
“Still a lie.”
“Did you murder any unarmed person?” Alec asked.
“No.” He turned his head away.
“Lie!”
“Did you kill any children?”
“No.”
“Did you kill any of the people you captured to be slaves?”
“No.”
“Did you steal from the villagers, or from your captives?”
“No.”
“Lies! All lies!” said Erin contemptuously.
Harl motioned to his lieutenant to take the man out and to bring in the next prisoner. After questioning all four of the captured soldiers, Harl and his lieutenants conferred.
Harl said, “Three of these men are murders and thieves. Under the traditions and customs of our land, they must not be allowed to go free. The other man seems to be more of an underling and did not participate in the raids; or if he did, not to the same extent as the others. He could go free.” Harl looked at Erin and Alec. “Do you agree?”
“Yes,” said Erin. “That is a just and fair punishment.”
Alec was still a little put off by the idea of casually killing people, even if they had committed a capital crime, but realized that he was not in his world, and this was not his justice system. “Umm,” he nodded.
“Bring the four prisoners before the council,” Harl said to his lieutenant, who left and brought the four men back inside the tent.
“The council has conferred,” said Harl. “You three …” he pointed to them, one by one, “have committed crimes for which we cannot let you live. You three are condemned to be stoned to death.” The three men shuffled their feet and looked at one another. Harl turned to the fourth prisoner. “We have determined that you have not committed the heinous crimes of the others. I am going to let you go, but you must leave this camp immediately.”
The man breathed a quick sigh and swallowed hard. “Can I have my weapons and my mount?”
“No,” said Harl. “We are giving you your freedom. That should be precious enough. You can have a day’s supplies and a knife. If after an hour we ever see you again we will assume you have returned to do us harm and will kill you.” He lunged at the quaking man. “Begone!”
The man jumped quickly to the side. The lieutenant took him out of the tent for his promised provisions. Then the man was released to the fate of the Grasslands.
The other three men were lead out to the camp’s central common area, still bound and under the control of Harl and his lieutenants. Word quickly spread through the camp, and soon a sizeable crowd of men and women assembled to take part in the punishment. The stoning was quite a spectacle, and many of the former captives took out their animosity by continuing to stone the bodies long after they were dead. Alec and Erin did not stay to watch.
✽✽✽
“I have another chore to attend to,” Alec said to Erin.
Many of the former captives had located family and friends and had established groups related to their home villages. Alec and Erin walked among the small groups, greeting people they knew. Alec asked where the people from the last village raided were and was directed to a cluster of about a dozen people.
“Are you from the village raided last?” he asked the closest couple, and they nodded in assent.
“Do any of you know the boy Ilave?”
An older man looked at him. “I knew the boy,” he said.
“Do you know his parents? Are they here?” Alec asked.
“They are his parents,” the man said. He pointed to a couple standing nearby. “They have had a struggle with this,” he said, “being separated from their sons and all. I hope you are not bringing them bad news.”
Alec walked over to the couple. “Are you the parents of Ilave?” he asked.
“Yes,” the man said. The couple looked at him with dread in their eyes.
“We have been looking all through this camp, trying to find him,” the woman said, clutching her hands together until her knuckles were white. “Do you … Is he …” The woman hesitated, not wanting to get her hopes up; wanting to know the fate of her son; not wanting to hear that he had died.
“He is alive, and in your village,” Alec said, and tears of relief ran down the woman’s face. Alec told them his tale of finding the boy in the village, rescuing him from the latrine, and leaving him at their house for his safety. The parents, overjoyed by this news, grabbed Alec’s hands, hugged him and thanked him a thousand times. Their excitement was contagious, and others from the village shared in their joy. Alec was elated by their happiness and hugged many of the villagers as they thronged around him.
Erin watched the whole encounter quietly, then took Alec’s arm as they walked away.
“You are a good man, as well as a Great Wizard. You have given their life hope – it has raised your spirits too. My ring allows me to sense many things besides the truth. And one thing that I sense is deep goodness within you.” Alec looked at her face and smiled. He was beginning to understand.
11 – Medallions
Harl prepared the camp to move. He saw that the group of former captives, some recently-arrived, and some acquired long enough ago to have broken spirits, needed to have something to do rather than sit idly by. Some still did not have clothing; none had proper sleeping accommodations; and food and water would soon be in short supply. The captives needed to act to recover their lives.
It took longer to get the camp moving than it had under the strict regimen of the Aldermen slavers. Harl and his few assistants did not care to use the whips and ropes to motivate the former captives to get up, get fed, and get started in some semblance of order along a trail that was hard to make out. Most of the trogus and some of the drungs had escaped into the Grasslands, which further complicated the logistics of moving several hundred men, women, and teens. If the group remained on the open Grasslands they were susceptible to retaliation from the Aldermen, or attack by other raiders, thieves or slavers.
The goal of the first day was simple: reach the edge of the first village – the one the soldiers had attacked with their death rods the day before, but failed to raid – and spend the night. They approached the village wall slowly, but as the ragged band came near, armed men ap
peared at battlement positions along the wall. The village gates remained closed. It appeared unlikely that the surviving villagers were aware that the Aldermen had been overthrown.
Harl, Alec, Erin, and a couple of others walked up to the gate.
“Halloo!” Harl shouted. Then after no answer from within the village walls, he shouted again. “Hail! We come to ask entry.”
“Go away,” a voice shouted. “We don’t want you here.”
“We need your help,” said Harl.
“No. Go away.”
“Please. We need help. The same slavers that harassed you captured us. We overcame them and killed them. Now we seek refuge.” Still no answer.
Harl tried again. “It was only because of us that the raiders left you and did not come back. We helped you and thwarted their efforts to enslave you. Now we need your help.”
“Go away! We cannot help,” the voice said.
“What?!” said Alec to Harl. “This is not what I was expecting! We helped them and saved them from the raiders! Don’t they owe us some consideration in return?”
“Yes, maybe, but not surprising,” said Harl. “I probably would have given the same answer to a horde of escaped slaves from a slaver band. You have to admit – some of our people are a little … rough.” He rubbed his jaw. “These villages have a bare existence with just enough food and supplies to live on, and not much extra. They probably couldn’t handle this many more people – and if they open their gates to us, they might think that this band could overrun their town. From their point of view, that could be just as bad or worse than the slavers’ raids.”
“I guess I see,” said Alec, mulling Harl’s words. “I guess we’ll have to camp outside the village walls.”
✽✽✽
Harl had won the trust of most of the former captives, many of whom still appeared to be shell-shocked and frightened. Alec noted that the band seemed to be content to let Harl be in charge. Harl directed setting up camp that night near the village walls where they would have some protection. After their camp was established Harl called another council meeting. Alec noted that a couple more people had joined Harl to help run things. Lord knows he needs the help, Alec thought. Two more men and two women seemed to be functioning as junior officers and attended the council meeting as well as Harl, Lily, and Harl’s other three lieutenants.
“As I see it, we have two choices,” Harl said, gesturing towards the village walls. “They are not going to let us in. So, either we can head back towards the last village the soldiers raided before this one, and return some of these people to their homes, or we could try to storm the walls of this village and force them to give us provisions.”
The group was evenly split between heading back towards the previous village or storming the walls.
“I am not going to be any part of storming the walls of this village or any other,” Alec said, shaking his head. How did I go from being a research scientist at a respected institute to being part of a discussion on ‘storming village walls and killing people,’ Alec thought to himself? Barbarians. But he had boiled the blood of more than one man. What does that make me?
Harl continued to lead the council discussion and found that none of them had any experience in storming walls, or how to do it, or what would be needed to succeed. They understood, however, the consequences of failure. Slowly a reluctant consensus emerged for the group to backtrack along the slavers’ route. They could slowly repatriate members of the group in their home villages if anything remained.
Alec and Erin were at a crossroad. They could stay with Harl’s band and continue to help them, or return to their original task of heading towards Erin’s home. The slavers’ path had taken them in the wrong direction from Theland. They were, at best, an additional week from her home, if nothing else befell them.
“It is still a long journey, my Wizard, but we could save a few days, perhaps, by cutting across the Grasslands instead of following the slavers’ trace,” Erin pointed out.
“Well,” Alec said, thinking through their situation, “it would save time.” Then, to Harl, “But I feel that I am part of your group and that I would be … abandoning you …”
Harl reassured him in his hearty voice. “We will be fine. We are functioning well, the people are willing to follow me, and everyone wants to try to go home. Go, sleep on it, and we will talk about it in the morning.” Lily nodded in agreement.
Back at their wagon, Erin and Alec talked until late in the night, going over different options – stay or go? – and different ways to get to Theland. Alec became acutely aware that despite her brave demeanor and tough talk, Erin was still a homesick young woman who yearned to be home and see her mother again.
They met with Harl and Lily at breakfast. Although she oversaw the serving ladies, Harl ushered Lily to their table, his hand on her shoulder, and made sure that she was seated and served with the others.
“We have decided to go our separate path,” said Alec. “Erin needs to return to her home, Theland.” Then to Harl, “I am amazed at what you have done in such a short time. You have created a little ‘village’ here – but one that is on the move, instead of sitting in one place.” He clapped Harl on the shoulder and Harl embraced him.
“Thank you, my friend.”
“We have a long journey to make, and we will be heading out of the camp this morning, as soon as we can get ready. We need to start on our trip.” Then to Lily, he said, “Lily, we owe you a deep debt of gratitude. You are welcome to come with us or stay in the camp.” Alec understood in just a few days, Lily had become Harl’s indispensable support for camp functions.
Lily looked relieved at being given the option. “Thank you, kind Alec. I was afraid that you would make me go with you,” she said. “At first, I was hoping that I would find my former companion, my peddler, among the captives here, or that I would see another familiar face. I knew no one here when I came, but now I know so many.” She turned and looked at Harl. “I want to stay and help Harl.”
Harl also looked relieved. “Miss Lily, you are indeed a flower in this camp. Of course, I … and the others, I’m sure,” he added quickly, gesturing to his lieutenants before continuing, “would be most grateful for you to continue to be among us.”
Everyone clasped arms and said farewells, and Erin and Lily hugged. “Stay safe, my friend,” Erin said to her. “Until we meet again.” If we ever meet again.
“We will take the supplies we started with,” Alec said, “and leave before mid-day.”
“As far I am concerned, take anything you need, or want,” Harl said, and the others nodded in agreement. “We would still be slaves if it weren’t for you two.”
✽✽✽
Alec and Erin hitched up their drungs and left quietly. By evening they found a small brook coursing through the Grassland and decided to stop.
“We are filthy and we both smell,” said Alec. Erin’s nose wrinkled in agreement. “Let’s stop here for the night and see if we can’t do something about that,” said Alec.
Alec created a small depression for the brook to fill. Then he heated a few rocks to warm the water. When pool was full, he said, “You first, or me?”
Erin stuck her foot in the water and found it warm. She didn’t give Alec a chance to go first – she was out of her clothes and into the warm water before he even had time to notice her back.
“You can join me, my Dear Wizard,” she cooed, patting the surface of the water beside her. Alec was also out of his clothes and into the warm water.
“Let me wash your back,” Alec said, ulterior motives front and center. He washed her back, and her front, and her hair. They spent over an hour in the pool washing the filth from each other and stroking their tender spots. The stroking progressed until they lay exhausted in the warm water wrapped in each other’s arms.
After they were out and dry, Erin said to him, “If you keep that up, you have a lot of wizarding abilities that would make me want to stick with you.” With a
laugh, she smacked his bare backside. “I’m talking about warming the water, of course!”
Alec surprised himself by thinking; I hope we do. I hope we do stick together. Then remembering that he was wearing her ring, wondered if she knew he had thought that. He wanted to talk to Erin about his feelings and their future but couldn’t figure out how to start the conversation.
The next few days were repeats – driving their wagon and their drung across the open Grasslands. If they found one of the small streams that crossed the plains, they would stop early and enjoy their time together in the warm water.
✽✽✽
Sitting on a wagon seat behind a plodding drung gave Alec a lot of time to think. Still a research scientist at heart, he spent time considering how he could use dark energy more efficiently and what improvements he could make to his focusing techniques. His new medallion was working fine but he thought he should make one for Erin, and he had a new idea he needed to experiment with for himself. One evening they stopped early at a stream.
Alec decided it was time to create a medallion for Erin. It was laborious work. First, he created twenty-three small tricrystals. He laid them on a flat rock and adjusted their locations until he was happy with the focal strength. Next, he encapsulated the tricrystals in a diamond. He slowly modified the diamond until it was perfectly faceted. Then he created a gold loop and chain for it.
When it was finished, he came over to Erin. “I have something for you,” he said shyly and showed her the diamond that he had made.
“It is beautiful!” Erin exclaimed.
“Wear it,” he suggested.
She put it around her neck and snuggled into his arms. “Thank you, my Wizard.”
There will be time to work on using it later, he thought, as it was becoming clear that her immediate interest was not focused on tricrystals.
The next morning, Alec suggested they take a day off from their travel to let him work on a new staff. It was okay with Erin – she was bored with the repetitive travel. She spent the day scouting the landscape and hunting, ending up with several days’ worth of meat and roots.
