Amendments (21 page)

              Grandel finally took his eyes from the behemoth beneath him and looked at the men.  They all, Talik and Returner alike, bowed and saluted him.

Part 3

Chapter 21

To the Capital

              Lord Murik slammed his hand down into the table.  “The Tierian army
will
come, Noir.  You cannot abandon us now!”

              “I have helped you win your freedom,” Noir replied shaking his head, “but I have my own goals to pursue.  I must free Nidhoggr.  He might even help us.”

              “But you are one of only three Luxins we have at our disposal.  A massive battle is coming, Luxin Noir.  If we cannot hold out, then all of what we’ve done will be for nothing.  Do you want our population to be cut in
half
this time?!”

              Noir started to respond, but couldn’t think of what to say.  The noble was right.  He couldn’t let the army of Tier win and kill a percentage of the population like they had done before.  They might kill much more than a tenth this time.

              Noir was still trying to think of what to say when the door to Murik’s room burst open.  “Excuse me, sirs, but a messenger from Tier arrived.”

              Murik and Noir met each other with surprised eyes.  The man continued, “He wants to speak to the leaders of the resistance.”

              Murik stood, but said, “I must keep my identity a secret in case I need to return to that capital and infiltrate high society once again.  Noir, you must go.  Try to find The Savior and Finn as well.”

              “They have already been sent for,” the messenger said.  “They will meet us at the southern gate.”

              Noir nodded, then turned and followed the man out.  A good amount of snow had fallen the previous night and still fell in small, wind-blown flakes.  Garmak was a blur of white and gray.  Noir pulled his Luxin hood over his head and pulled the cloak tight to cover his body.

              As Noir walked through the snow, he found himself thinking about Christmas.  He wasn’t sure of the date—this world didn’t seem to use a calendar like his world.  He wondered if he’d forgotten the holiday and it had passed without him realizing it.  He wondered if his parents, aunt Cindy, and his little cousin Casey were all celebrating.  Would they still be looking for Noir, Steven, and Aimee?  What if, in their searching, they found the cave that had started all of this?  Would the orb be there?  Would it react the same way it had when he’d touched it?

              “What’re you thinking about?” Ratt’s voice startled Noir out of his daydreaming.  He’d stepped up beside Noir while he followed the messenger to the southern gate mindlessly.

              “Home.  We had a holiday called Christmas.  I was wondering what my fam—“

              “We have Christmas here, too.”

              Noir was so shocked that he stopped in his tracks and looked at Ratt with a look of absolute confusion and shock on his face.  “What?  You do?”

              “Yeah,” Ratt said nonchalantly.  “It’s an ancient holiday.  Most people don’t celebrate it, but—”

              Noir interrupted.  “How is that possible?!  That holiday is based off a religion from my world.  How could you have it here?”

              Ratt shrugged and started fixing in place pieces of his armor from out of his bag.  “I dunno, man.  I don’t know where your other world is or how it can exist.  I take it you don’t have any more clues yet either?”

              “No.  Not really.”  Noir continued walking.  They turned a corner and southern gate loomed above them.  Noir knew he had to focus on the  matter at hand, but he couldn’t help but wonder, “How do they have Christmas here?  How could they possibly know about it?  Then again… they do speak English here.  That’s completely impossible too.”  Noir shook his head.  “Nothing makes sense here.”

              Noir and Ratt climbed the stairs that led onto the wall beside the southern gate.  Finn and Ruith already stood at the top and watched them climb.

              “So,” Finn started as they climbed, “they sent a messenger and not an army.  Murik is probably surprised, right Noir?”

              Noir and Ratt stepped onto the top of the wall.  “No.  He’s more worried about Tier finding out he’s on our side.”

              “Ah,” Ruith replied.  “Makes sense.  It is very valuable to have someone we can trust within the noble circle.”

Finn scratched his chin.  “Then again… maybe he just wants to return to his cushy noble life if this resistance thing doesn’t work out for him.”

              Ratt had all of the pieces of his armor on by that point.  “Hopefully that’s not what he’s planning on happening.”

              The four peered over the edge of the walls and saw three men on horseback.  The two in back were clearly Tierian soldiers, and the man in front wore highly adorned clothes in the same style as Murik.  His gut stuck out in front of him, though the rest of him was not proportionately fat.  He sat straight-backed on his mount and held his head aloft in an air of confidence and, as Noir thought, snobbishness.

              Finn jumped onto the battlement.  His brown cloak flapped in the cold wind.  “We were expecting an army.  Instead we get a fat politician?”  He laughed.

              “With whom am I speaking?” the politician asked loudly.  He spoke with accented diction.

              “The name’s not important, but I can speak for the rebellion.  Call me… winner.”

              The man did not respond for a moment.  “I will call you traitor.  It is what you are.”

              Finn laughed again.  “Okay, loser.  You can call us kicking your butts whatever you want, but it doesn’t change the facts of what happened.  Now, are you here for a reason, or just here for me to insult you?”

              The nobleman did not seem phased.  “Tier demands your surrender.  An army waits to re-occupy the city to the northwest.  We will—”

              “Hey fatty,” Finn shrugged.  “Or was it loser?  Anyway, don’t insult my intelligence.  We both know that no matter what, we aren’t going to surrender.  We fought for our freedom.  We have these town walls, an army of Din Mages,” he lied, “and The Savior of Tier, here.”  Finn motioned toward Ratt.  “Your army has no chance of reclaiming Garmak, so run along home to—”

              “I have a message for Luxin Noir from King Tier.”  All four men were shocked by this.  Finn, Ruith, and Ratt looked at Noir with surprise.  “Is this young Luxin he?”

              Noir cleared his throat.  “I am Luxin Noir.”

              “Good.  King Tier wants you to know that your cousin is in the Tierian prison and will be executed if Garmak is not surrendered to us in forty-eight hours.”

              “What?!” Noir asked incredulously.  He felt sick.  Questions flooded his brain.  “They have Aimee?  How do they know who she is?  Why is she involved?  Why does the King of Tier even know about me and Aimee?”

              Finn and Ratt both looked at Noir with surprise.  Ruith stared down at the politician below with what looked like hate.  Noir shook his head unsure of what to say.

              Finn turned to the politician again.  His joking tone had vanished.  “You bastard!  I should have expected blackmail from the king!  He always was a dirty street thug!”

              The politician wore a slight, polite smile.  “So the choice is either kill Luxin Noir’s cousin and face the might of Tier crashing down upon you, or simply surrender.  It shouldn’t take long for you to decide.”

              Finn moved in a flash.  Before any one realized what was happening, a dagger flew through the air from beneath Finn’s cloak.  It streaked down at the politician who hastily brought his hands up to protect his head.  The dagger was aimed at his leg, however, and found its mark with expert precision.  The two Tierian guards had bows and arrows in their hands with a flash, but Finn hopped back from the battlement long before they had a chance to aim and fire.  Finn called from behind the stone wall, “Take that as your answer back to your thug king!”

              Despite his injury, the politician called back angrily, “You have forty-eight hours.  Do not make more bloodshed than necessary.  And you, Finn, are the street thug!”

              Finn made eye contact with Noir from where he crouched beneath the battlement.  He sneered and said, “Well, he knows who I am, I guess.”

              The sound of galloping horses faded into the distance as Ruith said, “Noir, Aimee is in there.  You have to—”

              “I know,” Noir cut him off.  “I have to go right now.  Nidhoggr and Aimee have to be freed.”  Noir turned to Finn.  “I don’t care if Lord Murik is angry, I have to go.  Are you still in, Finn?”

              “You know it, my friend.”

              Noir asked Ruith, “How far is Tier on horseback?”

              “You can do it in about twelve hours.  You’d still have a day and a half to rescue Aimee.”

              Noir nodded, then said to Ratt, “We could use you if things go badly.”

              Ratt dropped his eyes to the ground.  “You know I have to stay here and guard Garmak from that army… especially without you here.”

              Noir figure as much.  “I understand.  But Ratt, if you can defend Garmak successfully, the capital will be largely unguarded.  Also, we might have Nidhoggr’s help.  We could take the capital!  Will you come to the capital when you can?”

              Ratt bit his lip for a moment, then met Noir’s eyes.  “You’re right.  If all goes well, this might be the only chance we’d have to actually take the capital.  But we’d need an army to defend it afterward  We don’t have that.”

              “We can figure that out later,” Noir replied.  “Just come to the Tierian capital when you can.”

              Noir stood.  Ruith asked, “You’re going right now?”

              Noir nodded.  “There’s a timer going on Aimee’s life.  We have to start now.”  He turned to Finn.  “Are you ready?”

              “Of course,” Finn replied with a smirk.

              Noir and Finn made to go down the steps from the wall, but Ruith grabbed Noir’s arm to stop him.  He demanded, “I… have to go with you.”

              Noir stopped and gave Ruith a questioning look.  “Why?  Don’t you want to stay here and defend the rebellion?  They need all the Luxins they can get.”

              “I… just have to.  There is no debating this, Noir.”

              Noir was confused.  “This is my mission.  Finn and I need to be stealthy.  Another man makes us more—”

              “I’m coming,” Ruith said sternly.

              “If this is about that idea you had.  About me....”

              “No.  It is not.”

              Noir stared into the man’s eyes.  There was something familiar in his bluish-green stare.  His scarred skin always pulled strangely when he showed emotion, but Noir recognized the desperation and unwavering determination in his glare.

              Noir shook his head and said, “Fine.  Go get your things.  We leave immediately.”

~~~

              Finn, Ruith, and Noir left through the west gate.  Finn bought three horses and saddles at a small stable.  Within a mere half hour since the encounter with the politician, Noir found himself riding at full gallop toward the Tierian capital.  Ruith insisted they cross the bridge over the Coda river and ride on the unused western bank.  The major road from Garmak to Tier was on the eastern side.  They would move slower this way, but avoid seeing anyone.

              Within a couple hours, the landscape flattened into a great plains beneath the three men.  The Coda river spread wide on the horizon.  Despite it being near mid-day, the low winter sun sparkled off the water to the south.

              Noir, Ruith, and Finn let their horses rest and drink from a small tributary and went over their plans again.  The Tierian capital was the largest city in the kingdom of Tier.  It was located in the center of the kingdom.  Trade and commerce passed through it constantly.  The city was surrounded by large stone walls topped with numerous watch towers.  Within the city walls was another ring of walls that surrounded Fort Estelar, a massive fortress and the capital of Tier.  None but Tierian soldiers, high nobles, and servants of the king ever entered the fort, and almost no one but the king and his closest allies saw the innermost sections of Estelar.  Beneath the fort was a cave system of unknown size.  What was known, however, was that they were used as Tier's main prison.  Aimee was most likely somewhere in there.  Noir also conjectured that somewhere in the depths of those caves was a captive dragon that he intended to free.

              Finn had regular business in the capital, so getting in the city would not be a problem.  Getting inside Fort Estelar, however, would be more complicated and risky.  Noir suggested he could simply make the three of them invisible with lux and walk in the gates behind someone else.  Finn explained that the guards constantly used luxsyedins at the gates.  If someone with one of the three powers got too close, the fort was immediately locked down.  Finn explained they'd have to climb the fort wall at night from a particular roof top that couldn't be seen by the watchtowers.  Noir would have to make them invisible.  Ruith insisted he was not strong enough to make a person invisible with lux, so he would make the climbing equipment invisible.  Once inside, they would either and attack some Tierian soldiers for their armor and gear, or find the armory.