Heroes Gone Rogue

by Jason Kenyon

  Salestis found her attention being distracted by the way he was slurring his words, and had to shake her head to focus on what he was saying again.

  ‘This knight, Valia, I’m thinking she’s directing them personally now,’ Malthanes went on. ‘They attacked real smart. Can climb walls, too, they came in through windows and killed people in their sleep. I tried to get stuff under control but she let the bloody Blade out as well, and her demons didn’t touch those guys.’

  ‘The demons are working with the Blade?’ Salestis asked. ‘As far as I’d heard, the Blade was the only bunch that bothered to fight them during the Cleric crisis in Ferrina. Why would they work together now?’

  ‘Perhaps they consider us a common enemy, Your Radiance,’ Lyssina replied. ‘It is not unusual for this to happen in wartime.’

  ‘Well, yes, I know that,’ Salestis said, frowning. ‘I just wonder – is it simply them, or does another hand guide them both? You don’t think the Knights of Valanthas were involved, do you?’

  ‘Nothing to show that,’ Malthanes replied.

  ‘I see.’ Salestis chewed on a fingernail. ‘Mal, did you actually see her?’

  ‘Valia? Didn’t catch sight myself, but some of the others did. She was waltzing around with two larger red demons following her.’

  ‘They’re those lizard-like beasts from Ferrina?’ Salestis asked.

  ‘Yes, it seems to be the same type,’ Malthanes replied.

  ‘She can’t… summon them, can she?’ Salestis asked.

  ‘No clue, Sa- Your Radiance,’ Malthanes replied. ‘If she did summon them, she did it from a safe distance.’

  ‘As you’d expect, I suppose,’ Salestis said.

  ‘If Valia is doing this, then can’t we just point to her as proof of why we need to take these strong measures?’ Lyssina asked. ‘Instead of the plan?’

  ‘Lyssie, don’t start this again – Mal’s given me enough of a headache already this morning,’ Salestis said. ‘Valia is uncontrolled, and unpredictable – it’s no good leaving her alone to make a point if it just gets us all killed. No, she needs to die so we can do the whole thing properly.’

  Salestis couldn’t help but note the irony in putting down a real demonic invasion quickly just so she could do a fake one successfully, but leaving Valia to run wild missed out too many of the essential elements of the plan. For one, it made it less likely that the Central Council and Knight Champion Terrek would be killed and removed from the playing field. It also made it more difficult to orchestrate both her own heroic sacrifice and Malthanes’s victory, which would damage the whole transition from the former’s rule to the latter. There was the added risk that this insane knight might cause more damage than the controlled event would, given what a mess she and her alleged master had made of Ferrina.

  No, Valia and her demons had to go.

  ‘I want Valia found,’ Salestis said. ‘Do we even know anything about her, or why she’d be doing this?’

  ‘Oh! Yes, Your Radiance.’ Lyssina was carrying a stack of papers, and she handed over a few sheets to Salestis. ‘I did some checking in the records the Knights of Valanthas left behind in Arenfel, as well as tracking down her old mentor, Sir Mortyn. He took her on after the mage Elbert recommended her.’

  ‘Not their best call,’ Salestis said. She glanced over the papers, and saw that it was a transcript of the conversation Lyssina must have had with this Mortyn. ‘Anything interesting from what he said?’

  ‘She seems to have been a bit of a source of frustration,’ Lyssina replied. ‘He said she was his most promising pupil, but didn’t have many people skills. In his own words, “she pissed everyone off”.’

  ‘That isn’t hard to do around these parts,’ Salestis said.

  ‘Problem is that she got in trouble, a lot,’ Lyssina said. ‘At first she was just a good fighter, but she didn’t take criticism well, and nobody but Mortyn would stick up for her. Then there was an incident after she had become a full knight.’

  ‘How dramatic,’ Salestis said. ‘What did she do? Did she kill a village of innocents and bring her order into disgrace?’

  ‘Uh, no, Your Radiance.’ Lyssina smiled awkwardly. ‘Apparently the top knight in the order at the time, Sir Ilduk, mocked her while she was training. Belittling her, and insulting her family.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And she punched him in the face,’ Lyssina replied, colouring. ‘Only he wasn’t armoured at all. And she was in full plate.’

  Malthanes, still hovering nearby, winced.

  ‘Ilduk nearly died, and Valia was almost kicked out for good,’ Lyssina continued. ‘Mortyn had to do some fast talking, and even then she had to be transferred out of Aldrack, to guard duty in little villages.’

  ‘Oops.’ Salestis flicked through a few of the pages, but nothing stood out to her. ‘Still, her order was the one that joined Bartell’s little rebellion, wasn’t it? The Order of Endless Skies, yes?’

  ‘That’s right, Your Radiance,’ Lyssina replied. ‘Commander Grand’s last reports detailed Valia helping his investigation of the Necromancer of Horan, though. So I’m a bit confused on that part.’

  ‘Poor old Grand,’ Salestis said, sighing. ‘So Valia went from group to group causing trouble, and now she seems to be leading her own little band of demons. Before we deal with Stornis Hold, I want Valia swatted like the annoying little fly she is. Mal, that’s up to you.’

  ‘You’re trusting Sir Malthanes with this?’ Lyssina asked.

  ‘He’s not doing anything useful until the tournament,’ Salestis replied. ‘Are you, Mal?’

  ‘No, Your Radiance,’ Malthanes replied, through gritted teeth.

  ‘Don’t look like that, Mal,’ Salestis said. ‘You won’t have to put up with me for much longer.’

  Lyssina elbowed her hard, and then caught herself too late, flushing a deep red and looking away.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Your Radiance!’ she said, covering her armoured elbow as if that would undo what she’d done. ‘I wasn’t thinking, I…’

  Salestis rubbed her arm, though she found herself flattered that Lyssina found the subject of her impending death so hurtful. ‘I appreciate the concern, Lyssie, but if you do that again then you are going to do a double-shift cleaning the palace.’

  Lyssina seemed too mortified by her own error to reply, which made it impossible for Salestis to stay angry. Salestis turned back to Malthanes instead, cradling her stinging arm.

  ‘As I was saying, I want Valia out of the picture,’ Salestis said. ‘Do whatever you think is necessary, but kill her, slaughter her pets, and make it so I never hear her name again. I am not afraid of finding a different successor, so mind how you go from now on. I’ll only let you have so many failures.’

  Malthanes nodded slowly.

  ‘And for the love of the Light, try to get some healing or something done,’ Salestis said. ‘Nobody is going to vote for you to succeed me if you look like that. Don’t you dare jump straight back to vistarium either. And you should thank Lyssie for getting all this information together for you.’

  ‘There’s more here you might find useful,’ Lyssina said, stepping over to Malthanes and handing him another bundle of paper. ‘It’s all the information I could gather – age, where she lived, family, involvement in the recent crises.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Malthanes said, looking at a point just beyond Lyssina’s left ear.

  ‘Is there anything else in all that?’ Salestis asked, noticing that Lyssie kept hold of some other papers.

  ‘A few things,’ Lyssina replied. ‘There’s one item that I feel is more important than the rest.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘There was an incident not far away, at the town of Vildred,’ Lyssina replied. ‘The tavern owner claims that they were visited by visions of dark spirits, and his establishment was set on fire. An unusual group of travellers was seen at this tavern, and shortly after they disappeared the body of a dead man was found in the courtyard, near where a
n explosion started the fire. He was wearing a strange mask, and he had been stabbed to death.’

  Salestis glanced over at Malthanes, who stared back like a child being threatened with a sword.

  ‘Near the corpse, this was found,’ Lyssina continued.

  She extracted a small piece of paper from the pile and handed it over to Salestis. It looked like it had been left out in damp weather, and the ink had run slightly, making the message more ominous. Salestis found herself swallowing hard.

  Remember Ferrina.

  Chapter Twenty-Six: A Troubled Heart

  There was a bustle on the eastern part of the city of Arenfel. Anjilo always enjoyed festivals and celebrations, being a fan of bright things in general, and this sort of occasion tended to wake up the more creative side of Valanthas. It had been a few days since the group had arrived in Arenfel, and the others had ditched their usual travelling gear in favour of non-descript clothing, to better fit in.

  Anjilo had figured looking too boring would be just as noticeable as wearing her armour, so she’d tossed on a cute sea-blue shirt along with her goggles, though she pushed the latter up so she could see properly, which inadvertently stuck up a tuft of her fiery red hair. The others, adopting their drab wear, had expressed their disapproval of Anji’s choices, but she was confident that the old man would understand.

  Arenfel had been built not only by regular craftsmen, but also members of the Mage Order, who had been sure to weave their favoured magical designs into the architecture. Fluted towers and flowing bridges swooped and swirled about the more functional buildings, and travelling between the city’s various districts was much faster if you used one of the bridges, which in turn afforded beautiful views of the surrounds.

  Anjilo’s team had crossed one of these bridges on the way from their tavern, and they’d paused at the highest point to check out the city, from the ivory palace on the river’s edge to the sprawling contest grounds, which were where the tournament was set to take place. Usually reserved for smaller-scale events, the contest grounds covered a wide area of fields within the city walls, and bordered the industrial district. It was often a source of strain in the area, as many of the craftsmen desired the land for their own expansion, but the contest grounds had withstood their advances for centuries all the same.

  The group paused on the edge of the tournament grounds, where the Order had already begun setting up extra stands to allow for the expected increase in spectators. Small crowds were gathering nearby, and Anjilo noticed a few armed people who she expected were going to be participating in the events.

  Neurion wasn’t paying much attention to this, however; he’d turned to stare at a nearby gateway, behind which was a large, gloomy building, with several horse-drawn carts exiting as they watched. Anjilo waved at one of the horses as it passed them, and it grumbled at her and tossed its head.

  ‘What’s this place?’ Tharanor asked, his eyes running over the dismal, rusty brickwork.

  ‘It’s the Crowntown Tea Factory!’ Neurion replied. ‘This is where they must bring it from overseas! I wonder if they would let me have a look around.’

  Anjilo was partial to tea herself, though the Crowntown brand wasn’t her favourite. She was quite interested to see if they employed any interesting machinery inside, though, and tried to peer in, but it was too shadowy behind the large windows and she soon lost interest and looked back at some of the more unusual visitors to the tournament grounds.

  ‘I don’t think they’d allow you inside,’ Tharanor said in answer to Neurion’s ponderings. ‘Still, they’d be fools not to get some stands going in a few weeks once the tournament gets started. I suppose you could get some supplies then.’

  ‘For about three times the price, maybe!’ Anjilo said.

  ‘Oh, didn’t think about that,’ Tharanor said, scratching his hair. ‘Well, maybe once we’ve checked around the grounds you can go have a look.’

  Neurion nodded and turned back to face the tournament grounds, trying to give at least the impression that he was helping out. Anji frowned as she watched the workers putting together the stands – their technique was horrible, and she was sorely tempted to abandon her investigation and teach them a more efficient way to build the stands, that would not only be safer, but also a lot sturdier.

  Deciding to look away before she really did get involved, Anjilo turned to see more wanted posters nearby, and couldn’t resist rushing over to check them out. While Tharanor and Neurion nearly got run down by a cart as they tried to catch up with her, Anjilo looked over the various posters. She didn’t recognise some of the names, but she definitely knew Valia, whose picture was starting to become more and more accurate. The artist had put some more emphasis on the red eyes, and the reward for Valia’s capture or death had now been doubled.

  ‘Think the Order is worried?’ Tharanor asked as he drew level with Anjilo.

  ‘Course,’ Anjilo replied. ‘They’ve gotta be careful! Think of the panic if everyone finds out that Valia has a bunch of demons following her.’

  ‘They haven’t mentioned those either,’ Neurion said. ‘What if someone tries to find her and gets eaten by demons? This is extremely irresponsible of the Order.’

  ‘That’s a good amount of relorans,’ Tharanor said, scratching his beard. ‘I’ve half a mind to go claim it. I missed the opportunity before, but perhaps now…’

  ‘Whoa there, Tharanor, we have our own problems to deal with first,’ Anjilo said. ‘We’ve gotta stop Salestis, remember?’

  ‘Right, right,’ Tharanor replied, but his dark eyes were firmly fixed on Valia’s bounty as he said it.

  *

  Archimegadon was feeling particularly out of sorts. He didn’t like being in Arenfel at all. In the old days, he’d always had a certain amount of excitement visiting big cities, but with the current mounting threats, he found it difficult to relax when there was so much to be done. Indeed, so beset by duties was he that he’d decided to take some time off for the last few days, which had disappointed Anjilo and Mellara when he’d ventured out of the city to meet them, even though he’d attempted to pretend they done some actual investigating. Strangely, neither of them had been fooled.

  Obdo, of course, was easy enough to convince to slack off, while Ithalna, formerly so calm about visiting the city, had become less eager to venture out into the streets since they’d earned the attention of a paladin patrol. It had turned out that the paladins were actually on the look-out for Valia, and left them alone when they said they hadn’t seen her, but this had done nothing to ease Ithalna’s nerves. She’d raised no complaints when Archimegadon and Obdo decided to waste time playing cards, but it seemed that she’d finally mustered some courage this morning when she dropped in on the latest game.

  ‘I cannot wait any longer,’ she’d said. ‘We must go to the palace today. Finish your current round and we shall set out right afterwards.’

  And so here Archimegadon was, beneath the towering spires of the royal palace, which glowed in the cheerful midday sun in stark contrast to events on the ground. Crowds of people were filtering out of a courtyard, muttering excitedly, while behind them two armoured paladins watched in silence. Archimegadon passed the gathering by, feeling the ominous gaze of the paladins on him as he entered the courtyard proper.

  ‘You look unwell,’ Ithalna said at his side.

  ‘This is hardly the most pleasant place to visit,’ Archimegadon said.

  He looked up at the scaffold, where three men had just been hung. The companions had been too late to hear the reasons, and on reflection Archimegadon wasn’t particularly sure that he cared to find out. A couple of hooded men were cutting down the executed criminals, while a larger man with a stubbled chin chuckled at Archie and his companions.

  ‘You’re a bit late to the show, mates,’ he said.

  Archimegadon frowned. ‘Ah, I was not exactly here for this… entertainment.’

  ‘Not a fan of hangings?’ the man asked. ‘A grisly business
, aye, but I got me duty to the city.’

  ‘You’re the executioner?’ Archimegadon asked.

  ‘Me and the boys here, aye,’ the man replied. ‘Name’s Faul. These fellas tried to break into the dungeons, would you believe?’

  ‘Madmen for sure,’ Obdo said. ‘Straight to the gallows for that?’

  ‘It’s hard times, m’boy,’ Faul said. ‘Can’t be taking any chances, not after what happened down south.’

  ‘Aldrack and Ferrina?’ Obdo asked.

  ‘Aye, those’re the ones, an’ more besides,’ Faul replied. ‘Supreme Commander’s takin’ no chances up here, an’ I don’t blame her.’

  ‘You execute people often, here?’ Obdo asked.

  Archimegadon was eager to leave and he nudged Obdo, but it was too late, as Faul started speaking again.

  ‘Not so many as we’re havin’ to off ‘em every day.’ Faul scratched his chin. ‘Still, ‘tis more than we’d normally do. Been that way ever since the storm.’

  ‘The storm?’ Obdo asked. ‘We’ve not been in town long, sorry.’

  Archimegadon noticed Ithalna’s expression change, and got the feeling that she knew exactly what Faul meant. She was smart enough not to answer it herself, though, so Archimegadon turned his attention back to Faul.

  ‘Was the day before His Majesty was murdered,’ Faul said. ‘Dark spirits about, they said. Heaviest rain we’ve ‘ad for years, and it flooded up down ‘ere, so we couldn’t hold the usual show. They had us using the axe instead – a much better way to off ‘em if you ask me, but they like the spectacle of hangings round ‘ere, so we only bring out the axe during floods.’

  ‘It floods here a lot?’ Obdo asked.

  ‘Not since I axed those cultists during the storm, but usually more’n they’d like,’ Faul replied. ‘Drainage is bad, and everywhere around here slopes down towards this spot.’ He kicked the scaffold. ‘Not like the water gets too high, but enough to soak your shoes, an’ it’s a pest for spectating. So we hold the executions in the lower hall when that happens, and I get to use me axe.’