The Sorcerer's Ring: Book 05 - A Vow of Glory (22 page)

Her
heart lifted to see him.

“I
never thought I would see you again,” she said.

"Why?
Because you are in a new place? Physical barriers don't mean anything to me.”

"So
then will you be here with us? During the siege?” she asked hopefully.

"I
am always here with you. Sometimes not always physically.”

Gwen
was burning for answers.

"Tell
me,” she said, “I beg you. Is Thor safe?”

"He
is now.”

"
Will
he be?” she pressed.

"That
is always the question, isn’t it?” he asked, turning to her and smiling
mysteriously. “His destiny is murky. It is set—yet it can be changed. As with
all of us.”

"Will
he live?” she asked. "Will I ever see him again?”

She
braced herself for the answer, hoping and praying it was a yes.

“If
not in this world,” Argon said slowly, “then in the next.”

Gwendolyn
felt her heart sinking.

"But
is not fair!” she protested. “I
must
see him again!”

"He
chose his destiny,” Argon said. “You chose yours. Sometimes destinies cannot
intertwine.”

"And
what of the Empire?” Gwen asked. “Will they attack this place?”

"Yes,"
he said flatly.

"Will
we be victorious?”

"Victory
is relative," he answered. “There are all types of victory. The red walls
of Silesia have stood for one thousand years. But even these walls are meant to
fall.”

She
felt an increasing sense of foreboding.

"Does
that mean this city will fall?”

She
had
to know. But he would not answer,
looking away.

“But
surely there must be some way to stop them!” she said.

“You
focus too much on the here and now," Argon said. “But there are other
centuries. Centuries before yours—and centuries to come. We are but a speck in the
wheel of time. People will die—and people will be born. Places will fall, and
others will be built. Nothing lasts forever. Not even destruction.”

Gwendolyn
stood there, thinking about all he said. She wondered if that meant there was
hope.

"I
feel inadequate," Gwendolyn said. “As if somehow this is all my fault. As
if all of these people would benefit from a ruler greater than me.”

He
turned and looked at her, his eyes searing.

"The
Ring has never had a ruler greater than you,” he said. “And it may never
again.”

Her
heart soared and she felt a great sense of encouragement at his words. For the
first time, she felt legitimate.

"Tell
me,” she said, desperate to know. “How will it all end?”

Slowly,
Argon shook his head.

"Sometimes
before the greatest light, there comes the greatest darkness.”

Krohn
whined and licked Thor’s face until finally, slowly, Thor opened his eyes. He
discovered himself lying face-first on the sand; sand was in his lips, on his
tongue, in his eyes.

Thor
blinked several times, then slowly sat up, wiping away the sand and reaching
over and kissing Krohn and stroking his head. He looked around, trying to get
his bearings, to remember where he was.

Beneath
the muted light of the first sun, Thor saw all of his friends spread out on the
beach, supine in the sand around him. Thankfully, they all looked alive—and
after doing a quick head count, he saw they were all there. All of them, plus
one: a girl, with long, tousled hair spread out on the sand.

Thor tried
to remember. Suddenly, it came rushing back: the slave girl, the one Elden had
saved. He sat up, squinting, stretching his aching muscles, trying to remember
exactly what had happened.

The
last thing he remembered, he was on fire, jumping into the icy-cold water of
the rapids. Luckily he had been but a few feet from the water when he caught
fire, and it all happened so quickly, he had landed in the water before the
flames could burn him. He checked his skin, and while he was sore, his muscles
aching, and all bruised up, he was not burnt. He sighed in relief.

Thor
remembered the wild ride downriver, all of them tumbling end-over-end in the
rapids, thrown downstream. He remembered glancing back, once, right before his
head impacted with a log, and seeing the group of Empire soldiers, already far
upriver, all consumed by an enormous burst of flame.

Thor reached
up and felt a big lump on his head, sore to the touch, and realized he must
have passed out along the way. They all somehow made it to this shore, and
must've slept the night here. It was a narrow, smooth white beach, beside a
raging river. The sound of the raging water was relentless, and Thor rose and
turned and looked in all directions, wanting to see what else was out there.

On the
other side of the beach stood a grove of trees, and behind it the river forked,
splitting off in a calm, peaceful current. The grove led into a deep and broad
forest, a winding trail leading into it. They seemed to have washed up at an
intersection of sorts.

"And
we thought you were going to sleep all day," came a voice which Thor dimly
recognized.

Thor
spun, as did Krohn beside him, and could not believe who he saw standing there,
behind him. Three boys, legion members, dressed in shiny new armor, bearing new
weaponry, and staring down at him with a look he’d encountered his entire life.

It was
the three people he had been raised to believe were his three brothers: Drake,
Dross and Durs.

Thor
was speechless.

Thor couldn’t
imagine what they were doing here, and he rubbed his eyes, wondering if he were
dreaming. But they were still there, and he realized it was real.

Thor
rose to his feet, eyes wide with wonder, trying to comprehend it all.

"What
are you doing here?" he asked. "How did you get here?”

All around
Thor, his Legion brothers began to arise, the slave girl, too, slowly gaining
their feet, brushing off the sand, and gathering around Thor. They all looked
back at Drake, Dross and Durs with equal looks of wonder.

"We
came here to help," Drake said. "We were sent by Kolk, shortly after
you left. We followed your trail. After you left they felt bad, the six of you
going it alone. They wanted to send you reinforcements.”

"They
also received new information,” Dross said, stepping forward with a scroll in
hand, “from a thief they caught connected to the theft of the Sword. He confessed
as to where in the Empire it was being taken. He drew us a map.”

Dross
rolled out the scroll before them, and they all gathered around and examined it.

"We
know where they're going,” Durs said. “We've come to lead you there. And to
help you make it back alive.”

"And
why didn’t you volunteer to help us sooner?" Reece shot back, defensive.

"You
come now,” Elden added, guarded. “Only when you are commanded to."

"We
are doing just fine without your help," O’Connor said.

"Are
you?" Drake asked, looking them up and down with contempt. “It looks to me
as if you're lost, all washed up and bruised from battle.”

“You’ve
even managed to pick up baggage along the way,” Dross added, looking
contemptuously at the slave girl.

Thor,
though guarded, appreciated their being here, and wanted to diffuse the
argument.

"How
did you find us?" Thor asked.

"A
good tracker and plenty of King’s Gold," Dross answered. "We managed
to follow your trail. Quite a calamitous one. Amazing that you escaped from Slave
City the way you did. We circumvented it ourselves, but luckily the rapids lead
but one way, and we had only to follow them to lead to you. Hard to miss: the
seven of you sprawled out on the sand like a bunch of drunks. I’d say you are
all hardly inconspicuous.”

The
three brothers laughed derisively.

“Way
to set up camp,” Durs added.

Thor
reddened, and saw his Legion brothers seething.

"Like
they said," Thor said, assuming authority. "We don't need your insults.
Or your help. We made it this far on our own—and without a map, without a
tracker, and without King’s Gold.”

The three
brothers looked at him with something like surprise, and Thor was impressed by
the authority in his own voice. His entire life he had been bullied by these
three boys, and he wasn't about to be bullied by them now, to have them assume
control of the mission. He knew their nature—and it was not kind. Whatever help
they were offering, he was sure it was only because they were commanded to, or only
for their own personal gain upon their return. He knew that, deep down, they
didn’t truly care for him.

He
expected their faces to harden, for them to argue with him, as they always did,
to try to demean him. But to his surprise, Drake’s face softened and he stepped
forward and lowered his voice.

"Thor,
we understand you’re upset with us. In fact, it is warranted. We were not kind
to you as brothers. For that, we apologize. We are not here to demean you, or
to undermine your authority. We realize you have command of this mission. We sincerely
wish to help you. Please. The fate of the entire Ring is at stake, and the map
we hold is invaluable.”

Thor
was caught off guard by Drake’s kind tone, at his deferring to his authority. He
had never seen them like this. It was surreal, as if he were not looking at the
same three people.

He
thought of what he’d said, and it made sense. The fate of the Ring was what was
most important, whatever personal differences they had. And despite the past,
Thor was always willing to give someone another chance—especially if they
seemed sincere.

Slowly,
he nodded back to them.

"In
that case,” he said, “we shall be pleased to have you.”

The
three of them nodded back, pleased. Thor looked past them, at the fork in the
river, and saw their longboat anchored at its shore; it looked like a long
canoe, large enough to hold maybe a dozen.

"To
reach the thieves’ destination,” Dross said, looking down at the map, “we must
get back on the river and take it south. It will bring us to a great lake, and then
to other channels. It is the most direct way to find them, cutting them off and
gaining us time. If you agree, let us leave at once—we haven't any more time to
waste.”

They
all began to turn and head for the boat—when the slave girl stepped forward.

"You
are wrong!" she yelled out.

They
all stopped and turned and looked at her.

"The
thieves would not have gone that way,” she said. “I don't care what your map
says. I know my native land better than you. Do you see that forest?" she asked,
turning and pointing to the grove of trees. "That is where they went.”

"And
how would you know that?" Drake asked her.

“Because
this river leads to death,” she said. “It is not a path they would take. To
cross the great divide, there is no safe way but through this forest. It
borders the desertlands.”

Thor
looked at the trees, then back to the rapids, and wondered.

"And
who is this woman who knows everything?" Durs sneered.

Elden
stepped forward and draped an arm around her shoulder.

"She
is a girl I freed from Slave City,” Elden said, “and I trust her. She led us
out of there.”

"You
don't even know her," Drake said.

"I
know her enough," Elden said.

"And
then what is her name?" Dross asked.

Elden
blushed, and the three brothers laughed at him.

“In
these lands we are forbidden to have a name,” she called out. “But I have taken
a secret name upon myself. It is Indra.”

"Well,
Indra, we are not interested in your tribal tales. We are men, and we fear no
river. We go where the thieves lead us—and we will take this river where it
leads,” Drake said firmly. “If you are afraid of water, you can stay on dry
land. This is a mission of the Legion: no one is asking you to join us.”

The three
brothers all turned and headed for the boat, and as the others looked to Thor,
he stood there, wavering. His logic told him to go to the boat; yet something
inside him was wavering.

He
finally walked to Indra.

“Come
with us to the boat," he said. "If we don't find what we need, we can
always turn back and follow your trail.”

She
slowly shook her head.

"That
river leads to darkness and death," she said, throwing off Elden’s hand,
and storming for the boat. She nonetheless joined the others as they entered
the boat. Before she did, she looked back at Thor angrily.

“Just
be prepared,” she said, as Thor and the others piled in. “You board a boat to
hell.”