The Exodus Sagas: Book II - Of Dragons And Crowns (50 page)

James cut down an enemy soldier from his horse, then deflected a polearm strike from his left with the enchanted round steel shield.
His horse trembled as a spear was thrust into its flank, then another. James reared the horse up, freeing the speartips, then cut down through one into its wielder’s helmet across the face sending him to the ground in horrific pain. Pulling the reins back, the knight of Chazzrynn withdrew his injured steed as the men lined ahead of him and his cavalry.

“Do not follow me
, wait until I reach the wall! Haah!” James gave his orders and charged ahead into a wall of waiting spears held by men near the strange stone wall of the wizard. Dozens of enemy eyes turned to see the madman from Chazzrynn charge into the center of the battle with a dying horse, and straight at a solid wall. The veteran soldier saw Gwenne emerge to his right with a swirl of weapons on fire around her in the air. He glanced to his left to see Zen leading his men to drive the flanked enemy further into the still massing cavalry of Saint Erinsburg. In his peripheral vision far to the right, James saw Lord Cristoff doing much the same as the dwarf, all of them needing a little distraction, just a moment, to allow the rest of his horsemen to break the lines of the enemy
that surrounded them. He smiled,
he stood up onto the saddle of his steed that was charging int
o certain death. “Aaarrrhhh!” h
is yell and charge caught more attention tha he had hoped.

Just before the horse impacted into a wall of blades an
d waiting spears, James
leapt through the air off the back of his charging stallion. He should have fallen into the stone wall amidst a score of enemy soldiers, but as he raised his shield, the arcane enchantments floated his momentum ahead instead of down. Gliding at charge speed above the weapo
ns and reach of the enemy, he
planted his feet at the rock wall edge and skidded down its length as he lowered the magical
shield given to him by
the dragon of Soujan Mountain. He heard the crash of the horse through polear
ms and spears and then the sound
of stallion and stone wall a second later
. All eyes upon him for that moment, he
raised his broadsword into the air
and dove from the wall landing the edge into the chest of an enemy soldier. “To Lord Cristoff!”

Feeling his boots
heat
up from the enchanted rock he had run across
, James
Andellis turned the wall
as his cavalry let out a roar and battle cry and crashed through the stunned and
flanked enemy troops. H
e
looked
up, Gwenne
right above him, levitating five feet in the ari surrounded by whirling weapons and flame.

“Nice jump kni
ght, shame about
the horse.” Gwenne had a smile and glow to her eyes that must have been caused by the arcane powers she was using, for it looked most unnatural.

“Nice wall
wizard, shame it burned my bootheels to cinders.” James scuffed his boots in the cold grass as steam and smoke rose from them.

“Well who in their right mind would leap onto a glowing orange magical wall summoned by me?”

“Good point.” James marched toward Lord Cristoff and the rest of his men, broadsword at the ready. He watched as the cavalry kept streaming from the castle gates, and very soon, the numbers of the enemy were lessened
, the count of Saint Erinsb
urg soldiers surpassed them
,
and the calls for surrender were heard.
Cheers went up, royal blades dropped to the field, and the last rays of purple light sunk past the horizon to the east.

LCMVXI
IL
CMVXIILCMVXIILCMVX

Shinayne T’Sarrin pulled Carice free of the archer on top of the catwalk above the portcullis of Bradswellen Castle, his body slumping to the stone floor below with the six others she had defeated once the fiery onslaught of Gwenne had ceased. The elven swordswoman surveyed the courtyard now that the remaining archers had fled the castle walls or died by her blades.
The iron gate was closed again
and Saberrak stood surrounded by the bodies of many armored guards, most of them unmoving in the slightest. She turned as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the horizon, and saw the slow march of James, Gwenne, Zen, and Cristoff with a host of prisoners and perhaps fifty men on foot and horse loyal to Saint Erinsburg. She sheathed her matching long
blade and short blade
and walked quickly down the steps where she was met by twenty men that had just approached from the barracks.

“Halt elf, stand down min
otaur! Lay down your weapons!” o
ne of the men of Saint Erinsburg spoke up as the twenty slowly surrounded Shinayne and Saberrak.

The elven noble looked to her blood covered companion whose heavy breathing was blowing the wisps of hair on one of the dead soldiers at his feet.
She saw the terror in the eyes of the men, and rightly so.
“Saberrak, drop your axe, these men will not hurt us. They are just afraid o
f you, they mean us no harm.” h
er words were soft, yet stern. She could tell the fight had not even begun to take a toll on the minotaur, his rage and
endurance had no bounds. She did not fear for him or herself, but that these innocent men
, despite their number, would not live long if they threatened the horned gladiator.

“They had better know friend from foe, and drop their weapons, elf.”

“I said stand down beast! Drop your axe now!” the Harlian man quivered as he raised his voice and approached the gray hulking warrior with his bladed spear directed at its chest. His twenty men, still in prison garb, followed hesitantly.

“Or what, human? Do you not see the bodies at your feet?
Perhaps you c
are to be yet anoth-
“

“Saberrak the gray of Unlinn!” Shinayne slapped Saberrak across his bovine snout and glared into his eyes
, glowing blue again she noticed.
“They
are afraid of you, but I am not! Drop your axe for me then.
Cristoff and the others will be here shortly, I promise.”

The gray gladiator took a breath and let out a huff of steam on the cold win
ter evening,
tossed his axe to the ground. He wiped some of the blood from his face and horns, then placed his hand on the throbbing gash in his thigh that still pumped blood slowly down his boot.
It had healed some, on its own.
“You realize, had I wanted to, I could have killed every single-
“

“Enough! I know, they know! This is not the arena my horned friend, it is not. We are victorious here, and these men do not know we are allies of their lord. All they know is that you and I just killed at least thirty men, and you look like something that is not had its fill of bloodshed. Calm yourself, the fight is over Saberrak. It is over.” Shinayne placed her hand on his shoulder an
d tried to get the tattood warri
or to meet her gaze.
He did, the blue fading, his chest relaxing, her hand on his shoulder seeming to help.

The men scrambled to raise the portcullis as cheers went up at the sight of Lord Criistoff Bradswellen the Third.
Lanterns and torches lit quickly, men and women from the city straggled in large groups having heard and seen the sounds of battle at the nearby castle. Cristoff r
ode in next to Norrice, James, G
wenne, and Azenairk and more yells and cheers went into the night.

“It is a sad day, my people, my men, when your own king seeks to dishonor himself and his kingdom. By Alden’s light and mercy, and a few trusted friends, we have run aground our ruler’s plans for defiling Saint Erinsburg and our pledge to Harlaheim. Rest well tonight my men, for towmorrow we prepare to defend our c
ity from the armies of the king
that he will surely send. Give
word throughout the city and the fields, every man is called to arms!” Cristoff bowed to all around him, and then to the surrounded elven woman and the gray minotaur.

“And them, my Lord?” the brave sergeant that was held prisoner pointed toward their captives.

“My trusted allies and deadly warriors, thank Alden they are on our side sergeant. It would be unwise to surround them with less than fifty. Send word to the church that priests are needed for te
nding to the injured and prayer
for
the dead.
” Cristoff dismounted and walked straight to James Andellis. He gave a slight bow and smile, then shook his hand, forearm to forearm. “Amazing display, Sir James of Chazzrynn. I wish I had knights like you in my service, well fought
, well won
.”

“Thank
you, my lord. Well planned by yo
u, I just followed my orders
.” James smiled, this having been the first major battle that he had charged into, lead men bravely, and more than just himself had survived.
He looked to the sky, then to the forest
outside
by mistake, and thanked Go
d silently for victory
.

Exodus II:XIII

Prison Under Castle L’Herrim, City of Harlaheim

“When all seems dark and without hope, when there is nothing to
cling to save faith and
air, know that there is always someone listening s
hould one ask for divine assistance. Be it mysterious, possible coincidence, or sworn blind luck, God always answers with his will.
”-f
rom “Sermons over the Carisian”, a book of
prayers of
the eastern monastaries,
by Father Garret D’Ourmas 335 A.D.

Yari looked up from his rat hole of a chamber that Florin had given him all these years, he had fallen asleep reading his torn and dilapidated spellbook once again. Pieced together with yarn and written most of the time with little light, the old wretched and foul smelling wizard could barely make out his own pages somedays.
Days
, he thought,
what was sunlight anyway
? He had not seen it nor felt it in uncounted time.
His frazzled strands of hair and beard were a mess, yet he had
not the care for hygiene or
appearance. Yari had heard something, something besides the tormenting whines and sobs of the former q
ueen who lay in wait of the blade
and crowd. No, this was not Rosana, nor the pesky sprites and spirits that crept in from time to time to tie his hair in knots. He heard footsteps, ever so faint that they could go away should one not concentrate on t
hem, but Yari knew someone was
here.

His mind was racing with what it could be, since the house wizard for the White Spider in Harlaheim had many glyphs and traps that should have gone off and alerted him if the creature was larger than a rat. Yari drew his gnarled wand of petrified blackroot vine and skulked past the cells into the hallway.
He looked into the cell with Rosana who was sleeping rather peacefully at the moment, curled into a ball in the corner. Yari pinched himself in the arm to make sure he was not sleepwalking again. No, the pain solidified that
t
his was real, so he walked further on down the corridor. “
Hello there
? Who has come to visit old Yari then?”

“Me, old friend, and y
ou have seen better days I see.” t
he black robes with gray and white lines and arcanes design of the highest quality flowed down the steps at the opposite end of the hallway. Kalzarius gently walked down the hall, his long white and gray speckled beard and hair seemed motionless in the still dead air of the place. “You have found
yourself in a prison, working for the foulest of company Yari, but it was not always so.”

Barely able to breath
e
or swallow, Yari began to bow, his eyes began to tear, then he straightened up as me
mory took over. “You saw to it
old master, that I was banned from any academy or arcane tutelage long ago. What was I to do?” Yari walked forward, step to step, with the
advancing
great Kalzarius. He concentrated on the wand and felt the arcane energy flow into his hand as a faint yel
low glow emitted from the gnarled item of magical focus.

Kalzarius’ sta
ff of dark brown wood and ancient
runes came alive with green light a moment later, yet neither man let their gaze or step change one bit. “You should have stopped researching ways to bring your family back through vile and forbidden rites. Perhaps, you could have gotten past it and learned from it. There were other ways Yari. Now you have the queen prisoner my students have told me. I came to talk-“

“You came to destroy me and see me fail once more by your word or deed! I know you, great Kalzarius and your mighty tower. Yes I know why you are here. You will have to do better than prey on my conscience to get past Yari. I have grown strong in these decades, and my research has never ceased.” Yari was jittery now, having lied about his research and power, having been caught working to imprison a noble monarch, and having his former master here in front of him. The old wizard thought of his decades of failed study, his lost family, and his pathetic life. He smiled as he walked, not fifty feet away from Kalzarius now. Yari stopped, closed his eyes, and thought of the queen.