The D'Karon Apprentice (33 page)

“We need to work together, everyone,” she
said. “Those of you from Tressor, you have permission to fire on
anything crossing this bridge that you believe would be a threat to
your people or ours. Those things are D’Karon,
not
Northern
Alliance. They are just as much our enemy as yours, so if you
believe you have a shot, take it.”

Her assurance prompted three sharp twangs of
bowstrings. All three bolts hit their mark, shattering the singed
but still dangerous beasts that had burst through the flames.

For a few tense moments, the rush of
creatures across the bridge seemed not to be slowing at all. The
alliance guards took forward positions and put their swords to work
on the scattered beasts that made it past the arrows of the
Tressons. With each moment though, more of the tar-soaked bridge
took to flame, and the gauntlet of burning wood began to claim the
smaller beasts and render the larger ones weak enough to be easily
dispatched.

After a quarter of an hour the first wave of
creatures had dwindled to nothing. The guards stood ready for what
would come next, eyes peering through the smoke and flames of the
bridge at the approaching second wave. Easily as numerous as the
faster beasts, this group comprised larger, slower monsters, chief
among them the lumbering monstrosity that had been Celeste’s
greatest concern.

The wave of twisted forms rolled forward.
Though the bridge was now fully consumed in flames, it had been
built of fine timber and stubbornly refused to collapse. This fact
had not gone unnoticed by Ambassador Krettis.

“What do we do if the bridge holds?” she
asked.

“We will have the carriage take you and your
aide to the nearest town. Your guards too, if you prefer.”

“And what of you?”

“We will stand and fight.”

“You can’t hope to defeat that thing.”

“You’d be surprised,” Ivy said.

“Even the crazed beast you became could not
fell so massive a monster,” Krettis said.

Ivy turned, cocking her head. “Crazed
beast?”

“I saw in your eyes the blood fury. When I
was told you would be my counterpart in this mission, I was warned
that there were claims you could become some sort of rampaging
monster. It was a harrowing sight.”

The malthrope grinned. “Oh, you haven’t seen
that happen. Not yet.”

“What do you mean? The madness in your eyes
was unmistakable.”

“I hope you never have to see me as the thing
they warned you about. But if it happens, I assure you, you’ll know
it.”

All eyes turned back to the charge of
monsters. They were nearly upon the bridge now, and their pace had
slowed as they fought and shoved to be the first to plunge into the
flames. One beast, a thing that looked not unlike a bison with
scales, thundered onto the planks. Three heedless steps brought its
foot down on a plank too charred to support it, and the monster
toppled down into the water to be swallowed by the churning waves.
Half a dozen beasts made similarly ill-fated attempts to cross the
bridge before the crab-thing finally thumped onto the blackened
span.

By virtue of its size, the hulking creation
had to plant its feet on the far sides of the bridge. It so
perfectly fit the bridge one could almost imagine the structure
having been built specifically to facilitate the monster’s eventual
escape. Walking as it was on the outer edge of the burning
structure, it was supported by the thickest, most intact beams.

“Driver, eyes on the island. If that beast
touches stone again, you will take the ambassador and her aide
south. Do not stop until you are behind a fortified wall,” Celeste
ordered. “Tresson guard, you are not mine to command, but I would
advise you to join them. Alliance guards, remain.”

Step by creaking step, the monster rumbled
forward, and the bridge refused to fail. Flames licked at its
armored limbs, but it paid them no mind. Behind it the mob of
waiting creations clambered onto the bridge. Many fell through
widening holes in the burning surface. Ivy stood with feet set
wide, balanced on her toes and ready to spring. The Tresson guards
put fresh arrows to their strings and stood ready, each Alliance
swordsman doing the same.

The final rocking shift of the beast’s weight
made ready to bring it to land when one of the main supports split,
sending out a cloud of orange embers and causing the bridge to roll
to the side. Nameless abominations pitched into the sea, and the
behemoth that was leading the charge scrabbled and scraped at the
land. In its thrashing, it demolished one of the surviving support
struts and sent the remainder of the bridge plunging into the
water. Without any rear footing, the crab creature’s own weight
dragged it backward until it dropped from sight, crashing along the
rocks and splashing into the water.

The sense of relief as the final shreds of
the bridge fell away was palpable. The soldiers eased, eyes still
locked on the remaining threats but bodies no longer tensed. Ivy
settled down again and looked to the surviving horde and the fort
beyond. Without a route to the mainland, some of the leading edge
hurled itself into the water rather than give up its forward
charge. Others attempted to stop but failed, either due to their
own momentum or the pressing bodies of the beasts behind. When the
limited minds of the beasts finally came to terms with the blocked
path, they simply stood, restless but without direction or
ambition. They lacked the knowledge to cope with such an obstacle,
and therefore could do nothing more than await instruction.

“What did you see in that place?” Celeste
asked, turning to Ivy.

“Lots of stuff with fins and scales, so some
of these things might survive a trip to the shore… though I don’t
suppose they’ll be able to scale the cliffs very easily,” Ivy
said.

“You heard her. Eyes open, all of you,”
Celeste said, addressing the guards. “You, head south. I care not
what route you take, but be sure to pass through two towns and warn
them to have lookouts and armed men ready in the event some of
these creatures reach them. Tell each of the towns to send runners
of their own with similar warnings to their neighbors. You, head
east, same orders. After that, return to your garrison. We will
replace you from the local guards at our next stop. So ordered.”
The men rode off. “You, meet the rest of the delegation and warn
them to be on high guard. Then remain with them until we meet you.”
The guard nodded and obeyed. Celeste turned back to Ivy. “What else
did you see?”

“There was a woman, and a thing. Different
from the D’Karon beasts. It was more… affectionate, I suppose. It
certainly seemed more natural than the sort of things Demont
dreamed up.”

“Was this woman D’Karon?”

“No… no, she was human, I’m certain of that…
at least, she
was
human. There was something off about her
scent. She’s… a mix of different scents. I think she’s a little
like the beast. Made of bits and pieces of other things. Whatever
she was, she knew all about the D’Karon’s works. I don’t know much
about magic, but it felt like she was doing the same things they
were. I think she might have worshiped them. She recognized me as
one of Demont’s creations, and she seemed thrilled to have the
chance to meet me because of that. It wasn’t until she found out
Ether had destroyed the creatures in the first place that she
finally woke them and sent them on their way.”

“And you are certain she isn’t one of the
D’Karon?”

“Positive. Not just because she was human but
because she was…
kind
. She called her beast Mott, treated it
like a pet. The D’Karon always seemed cold and distant. Demont used
to treat his creations like tools. This woman, Turiel was her name,
she spoke with passion, and when I nearly lost my composure, she
comforted me. But… but she said she
brought
them here. She
is the one who summoned the D’Karon in the first place. And she
said if we truly cast them away, then she would find a way to bring
them back.”

“Then she must be stopped.”

“Yes… yes, I know,” Ivy said. There was a
sadness, even an uncertainty, in her tone.

“You seem reluctant.”

“Mr. Celeste, I don’t know how to explain it,
but… I really don’t think she understands what she did was wrong.
She didn’t seem fully convinced there had been a war. When I told
her we’d banished or defeated each of the generals, she said
something about needing to learn things from them. She had a reason
for bringing them here, but I really don’t think she understands
how bad the D’Karon were.”

“Regardless, they can’t be allowed to return.
She
must
be
stopped
.”

Ivy nodded. “But we’ll need help. She’s a
wizard, and a powerful one. I couldn’t so much as lay a finger on
her before she threw up some sort of web to protect her. We need
Myranda and Deacon up here, or at least Ether. Someone with
magic.”

“Myranda and Deacon are in Tressor. Even with
the dragon I do not believe they could reach us quickly enough to
be of aid. How would we summon Ether?”

“I don’t know… She should have answered the
same call we did. Where is that pad? I’ll try again,” Ivy said.

She and Celeste paced back toward the
carriage. Seated on the floor of the carriage with her feet
dangling toward the ground was Ambassador Krettis. The woman was
trembling. The cold and damp may have been to blame, but judging by
her face, that was the least of the causes. She was shaken to her
core, looking for the life of her as if she’d done battle with
those monstrosities herself, despite having been relatively safe in
the carriage through the worst of it. Marraata was outside, pouring
the ambassador a brandy to steady her nerves. The bottle was nearly
empty, suggesting this was hardly the first drink she’d had since
they’d reached the shore.

“Ambassador? Are you all right?” Ivy
asked.

“I… I do not know what to say to you,
Ambassador Ivy…” Krettis said. “What happened here… I do not know
what to think…”

“I’d warned you it would be dangerous,
Ambassador.”

“If… if you were hoping to convince us that
you were harmless, that you were no threat to us militarily, this
was not the way. If you were hoping to illustrate that you were not
in league with these D’Karon of yours… you make a strong display of
their threat but… you could have been killed.
I
could have
been killed
.
”

“Again, Ambassador Krettis, I warned you it
would be dangerous,” Ivy repeated, irritation beginning to edge out
sympathy in her voice.

“If I had been killed, war would have been
certain. I cannot… I cannot imagine why someone would
arrange
something like this…”

Ivy clenched her teeth. “That’s because I
didn’t arrange it, Ambassador. I didn’t even want you to come. But
now that you have, now that you’ve seen this, I hope you can at
least appreciate the truth of what we’ve been saying. The D’Karon
and their creations are a threat to us all. They are the enemy. And
as much anger as your land and mine might feel for one another, if
there is even a chance that the D’Karon might return, then we
must
be united against them, because if not, they will turn
us against one another again and smile from the shadows as we do
their work for them.”

“I truly do not know what to believe,”
Krettis said, shaking her head. She downed her brandy and handed
the glass back to her aide to be refilled. “I will tell you this,
however, Ambassador. There are two things for certain.” She took
the now brimming glass. “The first is that your people are
quite
skilled at crafting a brandy.” She drained the glass
again and handed it back. “The second is that I have no desire to
ever see anything of those beasts again. Let us move, quickly.”

Ivy looked to the fort in the distance and
the dregs of the unleashed creatures that stood aimless before the
ruined bridge.

“You take the ambassador somewhere safe, Mr.
Celeste. Continue the tour, if you think you can. I’ll stay
here.”

“I can’t allow you to remain here alone,” he
said.

“Someone’s got to keep an eye on this place,
and on that woman inside.”

He turned to the carriage.

“Ambassador Krettis, would you prefer the
remainder of this diplomatic tour be postponed until the crisis at
hand can be properly dealt with?” he asked.

“What I would prefer is to find a warm place
to think, ideally one unmolested by abominations of ‘D’Karon’
design,” she said.

“Would you feel at all slighted or
disrespected if the ambassador were to briefly set her role
aside?”

“Having seen the nature of those creatures
and the lengths you would go to eliminate them, I believe it best
for all involved if you remain in proximity to this threat.”

“Very well. Driver, take Ambassador Krettis
back to the delegation, see that she is made comfortable, and
pending her further decision, either see to it that she is returned
to the border or see that one of the lesser members of the
delegation continue the tour. I shall remain here with Guardian
Ivy.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Ivy said.

“I have agreed to act as your adviser. This
is a matter as worthy of my advice as any, should you need it,” he
said. He turned back to the carriage and its escort. All Alliance
soldiers had been dispatched, so Celeste addressed the Tresson
guards. “You art not mine to command, but if you are willing, two
of you leave your horses and equipment for us and accompany the
ambassador and her aide within the carriage as her personal
guard.”

“Do it,” Krettis ordered her men.

“Many thanks. Driver, move out. Send three
freshly rested men on horseback to this location as soon as they
are available and Ambassador Krettis is safely in town.”