A Warrior's Redemption (The Warrior Kind) (39 page)

I laid him down gently and stumbled
the rest of the way up out of the ditch not looking back. Su
ddenly Rolf was by my side tugging me along and I let him, too numb inside to much care about anything at the moment. At some point consciousness of my surroundings returned and I glanced back. The battle field was empty except for the bodies of the slain enemy and one who should have gotten a bet
ter deal in life than he had.

No more enemy troops had advanced into the pass even though the burning oil had stopped. The sounds of the drums had intensified however. Hopefully that meant that they were bringing their heavy siege equipment to the front on the double. It was an odd battle plan that called for the destruction of one’s best defensive fortification to be accom
plished as fast as possible, but that was the plan. It had worked so far maybe our success would continue, but at what cost?

How many more Tannis’s would have to die to achieve victory? The corresponding thought came that an
swered that question. If we lost this war all the Tannis’s would die of
that I was sure, which was why we had to fight and keep dying so that perhaps some would live. I was one of the last to enter the city. As I came out of the darkness of the tunnel passage way and back into the light and the city of Kingdom Pass I saw massed ranks of warriors gathered to either side of the road and as one they shook their fists into the air repeatedly shouting a timeworn military cheer of glo
ry to a warrior they deemed fit of the honor of receiving it.

I didn’t deserve this! It seemed as if every warrior of the army had gathered and was shouting my praise. I was over
come with the feeling of wanting to throw up.

“Don’t you dare!
” Rolf said harshly to me.

“I don’t de
serve this praise Rolf. Why are they cheering me, when I lost so many of them today? I’m worthy of scorn more than I am praise!”

Rolf continued tugging me along, “They cheer because you have given them hope. They cheer because as warriors they have the honor of being led by the greatest of warriors and that warrior is you! Master you have never sought your own glory and yet it has been given to you abundantly by the Creator we both serve. Let them see the man that you are inside! Let them see the man they believe can lead them to victory, even if you do not believe it of yourself! Reward their faith and let them have peace, whether it is to the grave we go or to stand triumphantly over the graves of our ene
mies!”

I didn’t feel like doing it, but I recognized the wisdom of Rolf’s words and so I lifted my fist into the air and excepted their praise, even though I was less than worthy of receiving it and would have preferred to slink into a dark corner and lick my wounds and have some time to heal before I again had to face the light of day and the gazes of men’s faces that stared sightlessly out into the void of space and time, be
cause I had led them to their death.

I stopped at where the central stairs started up to the wall ramparts high above and motioned for silence. Reluctantly the impas
sioned warriors grew silent one by one, with still a few giving scattered cheers in the background.

“Brothers and sisters hear me please. You have not only pledged your swords and arrows to me, but now I see that your hearts also. I am unworthy of the honor you bestow upon me. I am but a man as you are with the same weaknesses that you struggle with, the same problems. But I am also a man that has faith! I believe in the Valley Lander way of life. The right to serve our Creator as we please! The right to protect our families and our lands from those, who would take them from us! The right to live free and ac
countable to no man other than those we appoint over us and the sovereignty of our Creator, who reigns over all creation! The enemy beyond those walls wants to take all of that away from us! As I have been elected as your leader in war, I swear that as breath and the strength remains within me to lift my
sword, that
I will fight to preserve all that we hold sacred. I will fight to preserve our freedom and not only ours, but our children’s children too. This is my pro
mise to
you and may the Creator judge me ever so severely, if I fail in anything I have promised you!”

The applause that erupted was deafening, but again I made the gesture to be silent and when I had it I said less heatedly than before, “You have given me your hearts, but I tell you that is not enough. I must have your trust also! Orders will be given that you will not understand and will certainly question, but yet I ask you to obey every one of them, as I believe that the route I believe we must take is the only one that can lead us to victory. Sacrifices will have to be made even as they al
ready have been and more will be asked of you than ever should be and hopefully never will be again. I do not risk anyone of you needlessly and yet I have risked all of you and our entire people to attain total and complete victory over the enemy. What say you? Are you with me no matter the path taken?”

There was a ground swelling roar that culminated in one word being repeated over and over; ‘Lata!’ which simp
ly put, means master or commander.

I saw Romnan make his way through the crowd flanked by generals Sanjo, Nadero, and Santaran. They stopped be
fore me and the crowd of warriors grew silent.

Romnan spoke loudly in order to be heard by all, “We Valley Landers have always been a race of warriors! We have had many proud warriors to call our own over the course of our history. Such a warrior stands before you now in the form of Roric Ta’lont. Well is it said if one wants to know how the progress of a battle is fairing look around to see if a Ta’lont is still fighting, if so then there’s reason to hope yet that the battle might be won.”

There was a general chuckle throughout the crowd at that statement, which seemed only new to me as I had never heard it before now.

“You, the warriors of our people, are faced with making the greatest sacrifice that one can in this life and it is because of this that you speak for all of the Valley Lands. As you have accepted this man, who humbly comes before you as one of you and not one better than you, I ask that you will you not only appoint him as leader of our people in this present struggle, but also in the peace to fol
low!”

There was a deafening roar of approv
al and all I could do was stare in shock at Romnan. What was he doing? Why was he unseating the long held power of the council and transferring all the power to me? Again silence was called for and Romnan stepped forward toward me and answered my unspoken question.

“These are uncertain times that we face as a nation. A time when firm leader
ship is needed, as well as the act of will to commit to what needs done. Our nation has had such a moment before. Roric it was your great ancestor Tadias Ta’lont, when he first came to these shores,
who took the reins of control and steered a fledgling nation out of the path of certain destruc
tion by greater forces than we at that time could muster the will to withstand against. It has become quite evident to me and all those gathered here that the blood of the greatest of our ancestors still runs strong within your
veins and the humility by which you govern the actions of your heart. Your walk in faithful obedience to the Creator makes you worthy of the responsibility that has been given to you freely by those who speak most for the people, the warriors that stand gathered in this place. May the Creator help you and bless you more abundantly than any honor a man can give and may we as a na
tion prosper under your leadership now and well into the future I pray.”

More applause erupted louder than ever before and abstractly I wondered what the Zoarinians must be thinking of all of what they surely had to be hearing. General Sanjo stepped forward. I hadn’t noticed it before, but he was carrying something in his arms that lay on a purple velvet cloth. Flanked by both of the other two generals he ap
proached me and all three kneeled down before me.

It was a sword, an unimaginable sword. It was more beautiful than any other sword I had ever seen, but there was something more to it than just beauty. I couldn’t define what it was about it that made me think so. It was almost, in some way familiar to me, but I had never laid eyes on it before.

General Sanjo extended it up to me, “As the councilman has said these are desperate times we find our
selves in. As we have elected you as our leader, as once the great patriarch of your family was during the long years of his lifetime, it is only fitting that the oldest of the relics that have been passed down to us from our much storied past should go to you. Behold the sword of Tadias Ta’lont! May you wield it as nobly as he did and may it serve you well all your days as it
did him.
To God be given the glory this day that the warr
iors of the Val
ley Lands have a leader once again to lead us into battle against our enemies!”

His words seemed to fade from my consciousness, as my hand reached out toward the sword, as if inexplicably drawn to it. My fingers touched the cool steel of the handle and immediately I noticed a warm pulsing sensation as my fingers closed about the handle. It was as if the sword itself had closed about my hand. Ten
drils of colored vapor peeled off the blade to dissipate into the surrounding air.

There were many colors and the sword would pulse indiscriminately with multiple combinations of colors at a time. What kind of a sword was this? I glanced at councilman Romnan the clear question of what I had just thought in my eyes. He as everyone else was mesmerized by the shift
ing colors of the blade I held in my hand.

He shrugged at a complete loss for words, “I don’t know. There is no record of such an occur
rence, but little is known of that long ago time. To my knowledge it has not done this for anyone else over the years.”

Not only did it emit the curious waves of colored light, but curious symbols would briefly flash and then be gone up and down the entire length of the blade. I sheathed the sword and hung it on my waist and it abruptly stopped glow
ing, but I felt the presence of it keenly by my side.

There was much to be discovered about the curious family heirloom, but not right now. I directed my at
tention back to my three generals, who gazed at me expectantly.

“You have your orders see to them.”

They nodded curtly and disappeared into the crowd which soon began to disperse as the attention was redirected back to the very present and menacing army that was gathering in force beyond our great wall.

Chapter Eighteen

Crumbling

The rest of the day had passed rather uneventfully other than for the busy preparation of the city, which had gone according to plan. I sat with my back propped up against a quiet area of the wall, keenly grateful to be away from the pressure of the public’s eye if for only a few moments.

The sword I had been given lay across my lap and I examined it with interest, especially the little symbols that would flash up and then be gone. When they flashed again they were in different orientations and numbers than the pre
vious set. I was pretty certain that the symbols represented a language. Whose language and what was it saying?

Something else was of curious interest to me as well,
the sword had changed ever so slightly in its shape and size. At first I had thought I was seeing things, but not now. It was slightly longer by at least three inches. The double blade was not as wide and while it was still double edged it had taken a slight saber curve to it along one cutting edge.

The handle was also longer and some of the inset gems had completely changed in color. It was as if the sword was personalizing itself to me. I liked all the changes, it was more me some
how. It no longer flashed and glowed in a
myriad of different colors, but rather only a select few. Col
ors that I found appealing, even soothing, as I sat there in the dark against the wall.

Some technology of the past was clearly at play here I was sure of it. Tadias, from what I had heard, had no place for enchantments or dark magic, which relaxed me as to the source of the sword’s uniqueness, but still it didn’t answer the questions that it posed. Was it right for me to have such a sword as this?

Could it do more to win a fight than just parry a blow or deliver a killing strike? Was it just a pretty sword or did it have a bigger purpose?
So many questions and no one to answer them.

“Perhaps I can be of some help?” Came a voice from a short distance away in a section of darker shad
ows near the wall ramparts.

I leaped to my feet the sword gripped in my hand in startlement at the sounding of a voice so near to me, as I had heard no one approach. A robed fig
ure separated out from the shadows.

“Peace Roric I mean you no harm.”

Still holding the blade of the sword outward ready to strike I asked somewhat belligerently, “Who are you and where did you come from?” I asked my question harshly to cover up how unsettled I felt at the robed figures sudden ap
pearance out of nowhere.

“I am a messenger. I have been sent from the presence of the
G
reat I Am.”

The sword clattered to the wall top pavement. If it hadn’t been for the supportive structure of the wall behind me I may have fallen over backwards to the ground far below. The figure in robes stepped forward and stooped down and picked up the sword and held it for a mo
ment. I recognized him as being one of the angels of the storm that day when I had watched the Kurt family walk into heaven.