NexLord: Dark Prophecies (40 page)

Battle
was
engaged and men died, but Gandarel's Guardsmen were well trained;
they were all veterans of border fights against small bands of
Togroths.  They outnumbered the beasts and swiftly put
them all down. 

The two boys were at the back of the pack,
well defended, and the Togroths did not reach them.  When
the skirmish was over, they continued around the corner into the
square before the wall.

Aerin couldn't believe what he
saw.  When he had last seen this square it had been from
the roof and all except the top of the wall had been as
normal.  Now three buildings were destroyed, leaving only
piles of brick and torn wood.  Fires raged in the
wreckage, lighting the scene.  Togroth bodies lay
everywhere, with dead Guardsmen mixed in amongst them.

Around one of the piles of destroyed building
the battle was still waging, as more Togroths came over the damaged
and undefended portion of the
wall
.

Gandarel barked orders to his
men.  "You men," he said, pointing with his arm, "get to
the top of the wall; we need to cut off the Togroths reinforcing
those within… the rest of you, into the battle!"

Gandarel ran with those headed for the wall
while the Guard Captain led the second group into the battle.

Aerin ran with Gandarel.  As he
passed the dead bodies on the recent battleground, he searched for
Mara, or Lor, with fear but he did not see his friends.

Aerin and Gandarel fought beside the
Guardsmen. They stabbed at climbing Togroths before they could
crest the wall, or pushed ladders off using a poleax
 
they grabbed from the dead body of a
Guardsman. The battle seemed to go on forever, but
finally,
the wall was free of ladders and
once again solely in the hands of the humans.

Gandarel left most of his men on the wall and
went to see how the battle fared below.  They found the
battle just over; the Togroths within the walls were all
dead.  Many Guardsmen were also down, dead or
wounded. 

Once again, Aerin looked among the fallen for
his friends.  His heart suddenly
leaped
into his throat when he saw Dono kneeling by a
smaller body.

Like in his vision, Aerin ran to kneel next
to his friend, but
this time,
Gandarel was with him.

As he neared, Aerin saw that it was not Lor,
but Katek who was down.  As he arrived Katek sat up with
a grin.  He had a nasty cut through his right biceps,
which Dono was trying to staunch with a rag.

Katek pulled the bandage away and exclaimed
in excitement: "I have my first battle scar!"

"Great," Gandarel said in
sarcasm.  "I think you should try to avoid these things,
not revel in them."

Dono pushed the rag back into the flowing
blood.

"Where are Lor and Mara?" Aerin asked, still
worried.

"I am right here," Mara stated from a few
yards away.  "But why, may I ask, are you here,
Gandarel?"

They looked over to see their imperturbable
teacher standing and leaning on her cane.

"I led my Guardsmen in battle, as befits the
Warlord of the realm," Gandarel stated strongly.

Mara scowled at him.  She looked
and spotted Gandarel's Guard Captain.  "You, get this boy
to safety, he should not be here now."

The Guardsmen came over.  "I take
my orders from Milord Trelic, not you."

Mara faced Gandarel, "Get back to the
Seat..." and here she forced another word,
"...please?  This whole army is here just to take
you!  Do not let them win, Gandarel."

Gandarel nodded.  "Our work here is
done, half of you stay on the wall until relieved, the other half
with me, we're returning to the Seat."

"Where is Lor," Aerin asked again.

A small leather bag hit Aerin in the back of
the head.

"That's for punching me!" Lor said, and
stepped into the torchlight from the shadows.  She held a
bloody sword in her right hand.  "I helped some Guardsmen
kill a Togroth!” she exclaimed.

Thunderclouds brewed over Mara's
brow.  "I thought I told
you
kids
to stay on the roofs?  Why is Gandarel
outside the Seat?  Have my teachings been in vain?"

"We had to come to your rescue, or at least,
we thought we should," Lor explained, deflating
slightly.  "We couldn't find you, but we ran into the
Guardsmen fighting the Togroths and helped!" Lor explained.

Gandarel looked at Mara
defiantly.  "I came on my own authority, as future
Warlord.  I will not be coddled or locked away like a
child!"

"You are still a child, but there is a more
important reason," she tried to explain.

"I know about your belief that I am the
reason the Togroths are here, but I cannot, and will not, hide
behind
the skirts of midwives back
in my rooms while my city falls!"

Mara sighed.  "Gandarel, there is
more to this, and I'm willing to explain, if you will but come and
hear my reasons.  I promise you will not be
disappointed."

"Perhaps, but much depends on my councilors,
I will try," Gandarel promised.

Aerin suddenly looked
around.  "Where are Tocor and Yearl?"

Mara looked troubled.  "Yearl is
around somewhere, but Tocor is chasing the Dreadbeast."

"Dreadbeast?" Lor said in puzzlement.

"I had no idea that another had been raised
or brought to the battle.  It was one of the Risen, or as
some call it, a Dreadbeast," she explained.

"Tocor is chasing that thing?" Aerin said in
disbelief.

"Yes, it is wounded, but still
dangerous.  We couldn't allow it to get to
Gandarel.  I just hope..." she paused, as if noting she
was speaking aloud, "Tocor will be all right," she finished, but
Aerin knew that wasn't what she was about to say.  Mara
looked worried, and that was something Aerin had never seen
on
her face before.

Mara helped Dono tend to Katek's
wound.  She frowned at the
boy
but said nothing further about his entry into the
battle.  When the blood flow was stopped, Mara stood and
Dono helped their friend to his feet. 

"The excitement is over now, so let's head
back to the Villa.  There is much we must discuss and do
tomorrow.  It is
time
you all learned about what is to
come
and more of what your part will be.  I
have kept too much from you, and tonight it hurt us.  It
is
time
you all learned, but you
will not thank me for this knowledge, nor the learning of it,” Mara
explained as she led them away from the bloody battleground.

Chapter Twelve

"I saw a man, but his face was a blank
slate.  He stood with his hand on the shoulder of the
future and he stained it with blood."

- From the Dark Prophecies

The next day found Gandarel before the
council at an early hour.  They, for once, agreed with
Mara completely.  They were furious when they found that
he had left the Seat in command of his personal Guard and entered
the battle in the city.  They lectured him for two hours
on his foolishness, his lack of respect, his overstepping of
authority and his childish behavior.  Gandarel sat
silently through it all.  Even his friend Enolive was
angry with him.  The council was finally getting around
to a
plan
when someone started
pounding on the council room door.

"Now who, in Gedin's ship, is interrupting
the council?" Niler demanded.

Again the person pounded on the door.

"Come in, damn you!" Niler yelled in an
undignified voice.

The door opened and a Guardsman stepped into
the chamber.

"What is so
impor
…" Niler started to yell when the Guardsman
interrupted him.

"The Togroths have left!"

"…tant that you would... left?" Niler finally
said when the man's words got through.

"Every last one of them, even the dead ones
are gone!"

"Eaten, you mean," Gandarel noted in a quiet
voice.

The Guardsman shrugged, "I don't know,
Milord, but there ain't no sign of them other than the marks on the
ground… it's a miracle."

"One that Mara predicted," Gandarel
noted.

"She didn't predict it, Gandarel," Enolive
noted, "the Prophecy she subscribes to did, she just got lucky this
time."

Gandarel nodded, but he decided to go see
Mara, as she had requested the night before.

"Thank you Guardsman, but NEXT time, don't
come pounding on the door as if the Togroths had…" Niler thought
about what he was saying and changed it to, "just don't pound so
hard on the council door."

The Guardsman gave a minimal bow of
acknowledgment and turned to go.

"Well, the woman was right about the Togroths
leaving, but she was wrong about the dire consequences of you
staying.  It seems that your attack last night even ended
the siege," Enolive noted to Gandarel.

It was the first bit of praise that Gandarel
had heard, and his heart warmed.

Niler scowled at Enolive, "Regardless of the
outcome,
this time, Gandarel, when
you foolishly risk yourself without consulting..."

Gandarel sighed heavily as the lectures
started again.

The next morning, Aerin
waited
some time for Mara to come down from her
room.  
Eventually,
he
got up the courage to go looking for his teacher, only to find her
gone.

He was puzzled and a little
concerned.  He checked the stables and found her wagon
gone as well.  Mara never took her wagon out.

Her student’s concern grew over the next
three days when Mara did not return.  They were just
discussing an expedition outside the city to find
her
when Yearl opened the gates and Mara's wagon
trundled in with their teacher at the reins.

"Mara!" Aerin exclaimed as relief washed over
the young man.

"That is what I call myself," she noted.

"We've been worried!  What
happened?"

Mara got down from the driver's bench and
went to the back of her wagon.  "Many
things
and none of them are
good.  Tocor was hurt and I went to find
him.  It took longer than I thought, or I would have left
you a message before I left.  You have my
apologies.  Now help me get Tocor to his room."

"Tocor?" Aerin asked.

"He's wounded."

"Tocor!" Aerin asked in a surprised
voice.  "Is he..."

Tocor's deep rumble came from inside the
wagon, "I'm fine, my young friend, I am just a little worse for the
wear."

Relief flowed through Aerin.

"Fetch those crutches that we made for
Dono
when he sprained his ankle,"
Mara commanded.

Aerin ran to get them and nearly flattened
Lor who came out of her room at that moment.

"Mara's back and Tocor was wounded," Aerin
yelled.

Lor's eyes widened, they all thought Tocor
was made out of steel.

When Tocor finally emerged from the back of
the covered wagon, they saw that his right leg was bandaged below
the knee.  He had to hunch over to use the short
crutches, but they helped him get to his room.

"Can you believe it, Tocor, wounded," Dono
said to Katek a few minutes later.

"I'll bet it took hundreds of them, all at
once!" Aerin noted.

"It only took one," Mara stated, as she came
up behind the group of friends who were sitting on the practice
yard ground.

The kids looked up at her in disbelief.

"You will understand why in a few
minutes
when we talk about what happened
during the siege," she explained.

Aerin followed his teacher to the side of the
courtyard.  "Gandarel has been by, three times, looking
for you."

Mara nodded, "I'm sorry I missed him, but it
couldn't be helped."  She settled herself onto the bench
that sat by one of the large support columns for the upstairs
balcony.  Her students arranged themselves around her
feet in a semi-circle.

They waited as she gathered her
thoughts.  Her eyes were fixed on the top of her cane
that she clenched with both hands, but her mind was far
off.  Then she looked up at her expectant students and
spoke.  Her words were not what they expected.

"It was a dark time in the history of our
world,
darker
than you can
imagine.  It was the time of the Dreadmaster
Maugh.  The siege you just went through was nothing in
comparison to the terror and anguish that had become life for the
people.  The Dreadmaster reigned supreme and no one could
stand up to his power. Every person alive was kept in a constant
state of fear, and the more they feared the greater his power
became.

“But there were those who resisted, and they
began to meet in secret, to search for a way to end the
fear.  They kept their groups small.  Each
person knew only the names within their own group, though they knew
many other groups existed.  This kept any one group from
betraying the whole when captured, or possessed, and tortured by
the Dreadmaster, or his minions.  In these
tight-knit
groups,
they discovered the strength to resist the fear
of the Dreadmaster.  They discovered that the power to
resist grew stronger with the bond of friendship. The closer they
became, the greater was their resistance to the Dreadmaster's fear
and thus, his ability to enter their minds.

“This power to resist the fear soon began to
infuse the very meeting places of these bonded
groups
and became havens from the daily
fear.  
Eventually,
they
discovered this
fact
and came up
with the idea of pooling all this power of resistance into one
place.  They searched for a secret place to accomplish
this
dream
and found it deep
within the mountains of the Dragonback.  There they
discovered a cave network, a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers with
many entrances.  A place was chosen at the roots of the
mountains, and only a few knew the way.  Blindfolded,
they would guide in the other's, so that the secret could be kept,
and those that knew the way never left so that they could not be
captured or possessed.  It took many years, but
eventually a place of such strong power was created, that it was
proof against the power of the Dreadmaster.