A Warrior's Legacy (2 page)

Krista just smiled some more and said, “I
was thinking about my soon-to-be new daughter-in-law and wondering
what she would be like. She appears to be a woman of prayer always
a great plus in an individual don’t you think?”

Roric simply shook his head in consternation
at how the female half of the human kind worked, “You hear a
nightmarish vision like that of the future and all you can think of
is meeting a prospective new exotic daughter-in-law?”

Krista’s smile deepened as she got up and
walked over to her husband and put her arms around his neck and
looked up at him out of laughing eyes, “Yes!”

Roric rolled his eyes dramatically and
Krista laughed.

“In all seriousness Roric I think
everything’s going to be all right, call it woman’s intuition if
you will. Things may get exciting, but I think they end well.”

Roric didn’t shrug off her comments as he
had come to respect your intuition; he drew some comfort from her
words for the uncertain future.

“You seem to have some idea of where such a
place could exist. Where could there be a people living such as
Gavin describes?” Krista asked.

“I need to talk to Abby. I saw something
briefly on a screen once in the lab. I had completely forgotten
about it until now. I think there’s another continent on this
world. But we both know we can’t send Gavin alone on such a mission
to save a lost people.” Roric said softly.

“No, he’ll need a warrior to lead the way
and make the judgment calls that he’s not good at. We’ll have to
send Zevin with him. Perhaps I’ll get two new daughter-in-laws!”
Krista responded dead seriously, but Roric just shook his head at
her matchmaking focus.

“You’ve got plans to hook up your other son
with one of these exotic women that exists somewhere I’m not sure
where yet?”

Krista looked up at Roric, “If that’s God’s
plan for Zevin absolutely! I’m sure that the Creator has a special
someone out there to make all of my children happy, content, and to
have a lasting companionship with during this life. I’ve prayed for
my future children’s spouses for years and I have no reason to
believe that my Creator has let me down now. Especially not with
the success I’ve already had. This unknown people may hold the key
to both of our son’s happiness and fulfillment. We both know that
neither of them is truly happy here.”

Roric looked unsure so Krista pressed her
point. “Content maybe, but happy they are not. Both yearn for
something more. They were created for a greater purpose than just
to be second sons in life destined to only serve an older brother
that has not yet returned to take his place as your heir to Thunder
Ridge.”

Roric simply nodded. What she had said was
true and he wondered at the road that lay ahead of his two twin
sons. He wasn’t worried about Zevin, but Gavin’s success and safety
would depend on how well he heeded his brother’s advice and
leadership.

Zevin would not be happy in having to
accompany his brother on this quest. Although it would give him the
chance to explore, which he knew his son craved. It would seem to
him a betrayal of carrying on his father’s name and place in the
Valley Lands.

He like Roric had grave doubts as to how
Talaric could ever manage to come back, but Krista’s faith on the
matter of her oldest son’s return was unshakable.

Roric as usual was greeted by Abby as he
entered the underground labyrinth of rooms beneath Thunder Ridge,
but her greeting wasn’t the only one.

“Good morning father.” Ellanara said briefly
looking up from the screen she was studying.

Her eyes were bloodshot and Roric could tell
that her head hadn’t yet graced a pillow, but in youthful energy
she’d stayed up in hot pursuit of some concept of science or some
other discipline.

She was becoming so beautiful like her
mother, with a little of him thrown in. He walked over to her and
leaned over in front of her blocking access to her screen. She
looked up at him somewhat bleary-eyed.

“To bed! Now!” He said firmly.

“Okay okay.” She said getting up.

He smacked her on the bottom in mock reproof
for staying up all night and she giggled slightly as she stepped
away and hit a button that transported her instantaneously to her
bedroom in the castle above. Roric turned back to Abby and Abby
shrugged expressively.

“I tried, but she just wouldn’t stop. She
had to finish what she was working on, which led to another thing
and another after that. She can be rather obstinate when she wants
to be!”

Roric nodded, “She gets it from her
mother!”

One of Abby’s eyebrows arched expressively,
“Okay maybe she gets some of it from me too.”

Abby smiled, “What can I help you with
Roric? It must be important for you to come so early.”

“It is! Abby I saw something on a map of our
world when we were planning the mission to Earth, but I forgot to
ask you about it. Abby is there another land mass other than the
one we’re on?”

“Why yes there is.”

Abby brought up an image of Roric’s world.
He recognized easily the familiar lands and definitions of his own
continent from the birdseye view afforded him from Abby’s
characterization.

The point of focus shifted as the globe spun
and the highlighted focus traced down through the settlements
across the plains of Zoar into the Khartian Mountains further
south. Then the focus began to travel across the open sea water
towards the southwest, after a while a new land mass came into
view.

The land mass in general looked to be
roughly half the size of Roric’s own continent and was sharply
divided in the middle by a mountain range that looked to be equal,
if not more so than his own familiar mountains of the Valley
Lands.

“I’ve never heard of this land’s existence
before!” Roric said shocked at the discovery before him.

“At the time of the colonization of this
world it was well known of, but memory of it has passed out of
conscious memory. After the edict was passed by your ancestors
there was no reason to go there.”

“Edict? By my ancestors?”

Abby nodded her head, “I was not made aware
to the reason why, but the continent was ruled off-limits by the
First Council. After the technology was lost there was no easy way
of reaching it anyway.

Memory of it passed away over the years. It
was rumored that there was a vestige of higher technology still in
use there and that the land was to be avoided.”

Another document came up virtually. “Three
sons of Berniam and their families finding no land that they were
welcome in built ships and sailed southwest toward the forbidden
land called Assoria, never to be heard from again.”

“What is Berniam?”

Abby looked like she was remembering
something that wasn’t very clear, “Vaguely I remember an incident’s
of where some of our ancestors were marooned on a habitable moon in
the old galaxy during the great war. The native peoples took them
in and cared for them. Our people rescued our lost ancestors at a
later date from the moon, but the enemy found out and punished the
native people of the moon. Few survived the genocide, but those
that did were rescued and brought along with us even though they
were not of our people. They were looked down upon by our people
mostly because of their smaller size and pagan beliefs. Their
treatment angered my father. Their sacrifice for our people had
been a selfless one and though smaller in size they were formidable
warriors in their own right. He felt sorry for the way they were
treated by our people as inferior outsiders. I had forgotten all
that until you sparked the memory of it.”

Roric told her of Gavin’s dream.

“Then you think it is these people of
Berniam from the land of Assoria that my son saw in his
vision?”

Abby nodded, “They meet the description that
I remember.”

Roric was silent for a while and then said,
“I need you to print a map that contains all the available
information that we have on the land of Assoria.”

Abby indicated a large paper that was even
now coming out of a machine, “Consider it done.”

Roric sat in the chair watching his son
grapple with the same information that had blown him away. The
existence of an entire continent and ethnic people that they hadn’t
even known existed on this very world.

Shaking his head as if he just couldn’t
believe it Gavin said, “I have to go! I just simply have to. The
Creator’s telling me that these people need His Word and His freely
given salvation, if I interpret the vision right.”

“Your father and I are also in agreement
that you should go, but only on one condition.” Krista said.

Gavin stared at her anxiously waiting for
the terms of his release to go on the mission.

“Your brother will have to accompany you and
be in charge of the entire mission.”

It wasn’t any concern to Gavin that his
brother was to be in charge that worried him, “You know he won’t
want to go on such a mission!”

Roric responded thoughtfully, “It’s not that
he wouldn’t want to go on such a mission, because I think he would.
What would keep him from going on such a mission is because he
feels he owes me an unwarranted amount of duty in order to serve as
a replacement for his older brother’s absence.”

“Exactly! He’ll never leave you father!”
Gavin exclaimed resignedly.

“He’ll leave because above all else your
brother is a faithful warrior first and foremost and he will obey
any order I give him.”

Gavin stayed quiet and nodded, surprised at
his father’s willingness to send both of his remaining sons away on
a mission that they both may never come back from.

“You should prepare for the quest Gavin.
Gather up whatever materials that you think you might have need of
to minister the Holy Scriptures to this people strange to us. They
may not speak our language, which is something you will need to be
prepared for. Picking the men for this quest that will accompany
you will be your brother’s responsibility.”

Gavin nodded and got up preparing to
leave.

“One more thing Gavin.”

Gavin stopped and looked at his father
expectantly.

“I’m giving your brother complete authority
and leadership of the mission. You will obey and not question his
leadership choices during the mission, whatever the situation is
and whatever his choice may be. Do I make myself clear Gavin?”

Gavin nodded solemnly and then left quietly
closing the door behind him.

Krista looked at her husband steadily, “He’s
right dear husband. Zevin will not like leaving your side and
service. It’s something he sees as his sworn duty.”

Roric looked at her and said, “I know.”

The musky woodsy smell of the targano tree
bark behind my back filled my nostrils with its aromatic essence. I
pulled in air slowly and deeply preparing my body for the sudden
and chaotic paced moments ahead of me.

The branch I stood on was thick and the
arrows that I would need were already lightly staked to it near my
feet close to the trunk of the tree. In my hands rested a powerful
composite bow that I made myself.

The sounds of a few solitary woodland
creatures could be heard, but the usual cacophony of forest sounds
was muted much more than usual for this southern realm of the
Attorgron forest during the late morning hours. The reason for the
departure from the norm could be heard in the stamp of feet and the
jingle of harnesses.

The sound of an army on the move.

In this case it was a large raiding party of
Zoarinian troops, which were headed deeper into the forest in
search of the Attorgrons. As the revival brought about by the
dispensation of the words of the Creator in its entirety to the
peoples of my world had developed and grown a surprisingly positive
result had been the wholesale change of heart that had taken place
within the peoples of the Attorgron forest.

They forsook their wicked ways and accepted
the salvation of their Savior over their lives and became a new
people.

Even cannibals and pagan priests had
recanted of their evil ways and had been washed clean by grace as
they had felt the Creator’s mercy extended even to them.

All Scripture was true and in the verse that
stated that “God is not a respecter of persons” could not have been
better illustrated by the transformation of the Attorgron
peoples.

Their new religious step of faith had not
come without consequences though. Enmity had formed between the
Attorgrons and their free living neighbors the Zoarinians. The
Zoarinians chose not to embrace the faith in the Creator. Growing
alarm over the likely alliance of the Attorgrons with the Valley
Landers in joint force against them they had acted swiftly to
destroy their neighbors.

They had destroyed the city of Santarus.
Literally burning it to the ground and slaughtering its entire
population. The Attorgrons had responded and fought back halting
the advance of the Zoarinian forces further into their forest
world.

In the bitter fighting that had ensued it
became clear that the Zoarinians did not have the military forces
to overwhelm the entrenched Attorgrons so they reverted to the
tactic of raiding and pillaging. A tactic that they hoped that in
the future would weaken the Attorgrons and bring them to their
knees.

My father would not let our new friends
fight and die alone however. He marshaled the Valley Lands and the
Southern Settlements and fought fire with fire.

The entire northern Zoarinian border was a
site of constant conflict, which tied up the bulk of the Zoarinian
forces, as they feared the breach through by any of my father’s men
and the resulting destruction of more of their proud cities.

The same tactic that they had used against
the Attorgrons my father’s men and allies used against them.
Zoarinian towns burned and crops were not harvested. It was the
Zoarinians who were slowly being weakened and brought to their
knees.