Rohvim #1: Metal and Flesh (33 page)

“They say there are rumors of an army massing in the south, in our kingdom, and many fear an invasion—from us, Puertamando. Sorties of soldiers have already been seen in these parts and have harassed the outlying areas. The lords of the towns in this part of Volda have put out bounties for any who manage to capture or kill the roving bands of soldiers, and they are amassing their own army. I fear Shiavo has more planned than just capturing a few cities in the south. If nothing is done, there may be war between the kingdoms—for they are right, there is an army amassing in the south, but it is aimed at retaking Elbeth and the other towns. Where are the diplomats?” The man grumbled, as he led the way through to the east of town.

Diana announced, “Without more information, I think we should continue to the east—the direction the woman soldier told us she had headed. I remember from my youth that there were rumors of abandoned fortresses and towers there from long ago. They are outside the lands of Volda, though, in the wastelands to the east.”

They marched towards the edge of town, but before they managed to leave, guards confronted them. A group of twenty men, well armed with swords, surrounded the travelers. One came forward, his sword pointed straight at the master healer, and said, “By order of his lordship Owen of Volda, you are under arrest and will come with me to the castle.”

With little choice before them, they assented, and followed the soldiers to the castle overlooking the eastern edge of town. It was a grim looking place, made of stone and wood, not as fine as the palaces and fortresses of Elbeth or Ramath or the capital city. They entered, and were forced to part with their swords and any other blades they had hidden.

Once inside, the chief guard announced, “The lord will see you in his chambers,” and escorted them through the double doors that led to the lord’s hall. Before them, on an iron throne, sat a young looking man, not more than forty, a noble looking crown on his head, staring at them with tight lips.

“Leave us.” He commanded, looking at the guards.

The chief guard protested, “But sire, I cannot leave you with these strangers. They may be dangerous.”

The young lord shook his head, “No. They are no danger to me. Do as I command.” The guards hesitated, but bowed and retreated through the main doorway.

The young man stood before them. “You are the master healer, are you not?” The master healer bowed his head slightly, and the young lord continued, “In spite of your present company,” he said, giving a sneering look at Diana, who returned no look whatsoever, “I welcome you now. Dangerous times are upon us, as you know. First, I demand to know why the kingdom of the south is preparing an army of invasion. What have we against you to break the trust of the years?”

The master spoke, “Lord Owen, I am honored to make your acquaintance and I congratulate you on your inheritance. The last time I passed through these parts, it was your father, Lord Benjamin, who was the master of this great town. As to your question, I speak peace. There is no army preparing to besiege your kingdom. The army in question is being raised to liberate several of our own cities, which have been attacked by an army of unknown origins. We know only that it came from the north, and possibly from your east.”

“Raising an army, you say, but not to send it against us? I had not heard of any cities of the south falling to unknown hands. But we ourselves are besieged by roving bands of stone-faced soldiers that appear as if they come from the south. You dare claim ignorance of them?” The lord demanded. “And I have just receive word—they not only harass outlying areas of our towns and cities, but now, just three days ago, they openly attacked two towns to the west, and razed them to the ground. All are dead. Hundreds. What say you?”

The master healer spoke calmly, “I do not know the origin of these soldiers you speak of, my lord, but I suspect they are related to the ones harassing us in the south. A great evil is upon us, sir, and I fear now that one of its aims is to cause strife between us.”

The young lord thought on this for a moment, and continued, “This may well be truth, though I know not how to be sure. But this much I tell you, to the east, beyond the borders of our land not fifty miles hence, lies a country that my spies have informed me now teems with activity. They report men and women there, northerners, where there had been none before just five years ago. If you believe that an army came from the north and east to assail your kingdom, it will have come from there, if anywhere. But to allow you to leave, I require something of you first.”

This last part he said far more quietly than the rest. He continued, haltingly, “I do not know if you practice witchcraft, or are in league with the lord of death himself, frankly I do not care, but … my daughter lies ill. Grievously so. She is but five years of age and I will not part with her now, though she is surely at the door.” He paused, swallowing several times. “If you can, will you heal her?”

The master healer replied, “Of course, my lord. I will do all that I can.”

The man beckoned to him and walked to the door towards the rear of the chamber that led to the private quarters, “Then come quickly. Bring who you must and come now.”

The master healer motioned for Diana to accompany him and followed the lord, who abruptly stopped and nearly shouted, “Except for her.” pointing at the woman.

The master healer continued walking, “If you want your daughter to live, I must have the very best accompany me. And this woman is the very best.”

The lord clenched his teeth and fists at this, but then continued back to the apartment. The rest of them remained in the large room, pacing and examining the various tapestries in the chamber. Several minutes passed, and Diana and the master healer emerged from the apartment. They crowded around them. “Did you do it?” asked Stuart.

Diana smiled, “Yes, we did. She was gravely ill. As white as the bones of an animal. Horrible swelling pustules covered her neck and body, and she wimpered most pitifully. It took us many hours inside of her mind to repair the damage, but it is done. The child quickly recovers, even now.” She turned to the master healer, “Why did you claim to him that I was the best? Surely Lady Ellen could have done better …”

The master nodded, “Perhaps, but now we have healed his opinion of you as well. Please do not wound it again.”

“Very well.” She replied, grudgingly, “I suppose it’s not their fault they were born into royalty…” The door behind them opened again, and the Lord Owen passed through, holding his small daughter, who was now awake and smiling shyly at them all, the oozing sores on her neck still visible, but her face was now pink and lively.

The lord beamed at them, somewhat overcome by emotion. “Witchcraft or no, I thank you. I thank you. She would surely have died within days. I … I thank you.” He repeated. The girl reached up and wrapped her arms around her father’s neck. He continued, “Go now, and find safe passage through my land. I will send the word before to allow you to pass. Go and solve this mystery, and may war between our peoples be averted.” He shook the hand of the master healer, and bowed to Diana, who grudgingly bowed in return. They walked out of the hall, their weapons returned to them, and passing out the front gate, they walked down the dirty lane in front of the castle.

They passed through the lands surrounding the town unbothered by all. They travelled a day, and continued their journey all the next day, stopping near a stream to make their camp. The hills rolled all around them, sprinkled with evergreen trees and tinged with gold by the falling sun. They neglected to light a fire again, still wishing less unwelcome attention, so Aeden, Betha, and Rupert decided to go explore further down the stream to find any promising pools for bathing the next morning.

They followed the winding stream, talking, laughing, pointing at the fish swimming upstream to the east. They paused for a rest after ten minutes or so. Aeden sat by Betha and pointed at Rupert, “So this guy told me Frederick is weird.” 

She laughed, and remarked, “Frederick is one of the more … odd … people I’ve met.”

Aeden looked at her, aghast, “Are you hard of hearing? I said
this guy
,” he pointed again at his snorting friend, “said that Frederick is weird. Oh, I get it. Rupert, congratulations on your new sense of humor.”

They all laughed, and then convulsed, grabbing their heads. Aeden’s world momentarily spun, and when he righted himself, stood staring at his friends. “What was that?”

Rupert’s eyes widened, “That felt like a mind shock.”

Betha said, “There’s no one but the others around for miles. That can only mean two things …” They paused three seconds longer, then burst into a sprint back towards the camp.

Frederick and Darla lay on their beddings, which had been pushed up quite close to each other. They laughed, then shared a slow kiss. They looked up. Darla said, “Priam?”

Chapter Nineteen

“Your spirits shall rise to Him in the mountaintop, your souls will ascend to meet him in His home. There will he keep you and hold you, in His rest, until He creates again, and all shall be restored, and then shall ye descend in triumph from His presence, and walk down renewed from His sight…” –Prophecies of Tilda the Scribe, 95:14

Aeden ran. Gasping for breath, he covered the half mile or so that they had walked in over half an hour, traversing it now in just a few minutes, Betha and Rupert right at his heels. They came around the last hill that blocked their view of the campsite. Aeden’s gut wrenched when he saw it at last. Every member of the party was on the ground, some sprawled out, others lying as if to sleep. There stood one among them all, bent over the master healer. They sprinted toward him. Aeden drew a sword, which he had kept sheathed on his back, not bothering to take them off for the walk. Twenty yards off, the stranger looked up in surprise. He was holding the mechanical toy belonging to the master healer in one hand, and grabbed his sword with the other. Aeden stopped dead in his tracks.

“Priam?”

The other boy stood there, glancing behind himself, a seeming extremely uncomfortable. He turned, and bolted. He ran to the north, aiming for another wooded hill, and Aeden swore and gave pursuit. Out of some nearby bushes leapt two stone-faced men with swords who passed Priam and aimed directly at Aeden, who cut them down without a second thought. Priam ran swiftly, curving to the right so as to wrap around the hill, and Aeden followed, cursing his former friend. Driven by rage, the sight of his fallen comrades burned into his mind, he started gaining on Priam. Thirty yards separated them, then twenty, then ten. Priam whirled around and brandished his sword. Betha had remained behind, but Rupert followed Aeden, though less quickly.

Aeden raised his sword and charged Priam with a shriek of anger. Their swords clashed, and Aeden parried Priam’s counterattack with a furious blow and kicked him in the gut, twisting around and slashing with his sword all in one motion. Priam brought his blade up just in time, though doubled over in pain. Aeden swung again, and this time Priam met it with a flash of energy, burning the other boy’s hands.

Aeden screamed in uncontrolled fury, and struck at Priam again and again, each time met with a blinding flash and searing pain in his palms. Priam laughed, “Come one Aeden, you’ve had, what, two weeks now to learn this? What’s wrong with you?”

Aeden shouted as he struck again, “Wrong with me?” Light flashed. Aeden shouted even louder, “Wrong with me? You’ve betrayed us all!” He charged again, putting all his strength into each blow, only to be sent reeling backward, his palms now blistering from Priam’s shocks.

“I have not betrayed us. You have. I’ve only come to teach your royal bratness a quick lesson before I go change the world! The rule of your kind is over!”

“So you were jealous? All those years I thought you were better than the common scum, but I guess I was wrong.” And he lunged again, this time trying to reach back into his own mind to shock his former friend. Another flash and another blast of pain burned into his hand.

He heard behind him, “Aeden! Aeden! Rupert! Help Rupert!” He spun around, and saw Rupert, who had almost caught up with them, sprinting towards a large group of stone-faced soldiers that had now risen from their hiding place at the top of the hill and charged towards the dueling young men. Rupert yelled defiantly as he bashed into their ranks, slashing and whirling, energy sparkling all around him in a blaze. Aeden turned and saw that Priam was running again, and he yelled, giving pursuit once more.

He heard Betha yelling again, “Aeden! Help him! Help him! No!” He caught up with Priam, kicking out at his legs and causing the other to trip. Aeden brought the tip of his sword down, catching the other boy in the arm. Priam grunted, dropped the mechanical toy, and brought his own sword toward Aeden, though with little force.

Out of the blade, however, leaped brilliant shafts of energy, knocking Aeden backward, which permitted Priam to jump to his feet. He panted, and winced, blood streaming down his arm from the wicked gash. “I’m getting tired of you,” the boy said, shaking his head. “Go to hell.”