The Soul Forge (4 page)

Air rushed into Thomas’ nostrils so quickly that he felt he might float.
That was the best news he had received all day.

Then a whinny reached his ears, and he immediately had a new contender for the best news.

Lucille ran forward from the forest, looking agitated. She stopped in front of Thomas, and in her eyes was a patronizing look he almost laughed at.

“It ain’t my fault
there are bad men about,” he laughed.

“Alright then,” Master Kimpchik said, “if you’re serious about this, take Lucille. You’ll make it to the Capital within the hour if you let her run.
We’ll head to my cousins. It’s not more than half a day away, and hopefully the brigands haven’t put it to the torch…” His voice quieted as the possibility no doubt closed his throat.

“Don’t you worry, sir,” Thomas said, “it doesn’t look like they were heading in that direction. It should be fine.”

Slightly mollified, Master Kimpchik nodded. Then he pulled Ms. Anna and Mrs. Lucille along, heading for the pasture where the horses were. Maybe some were still there.

“Ride fast, lad. There’s little time.”

“And be careful, stupid Stable Boy!” Ms. Anna added. Thomas smiled at them both, resisting the tear in his eye that so desperately wanted to fall.

Then he mounted Lucille, grabbing a hold of the horse’s mane. Without saddle of bridle, this was going to be an unpleasant journey.

“Let’s get going, Lucille,” Thomas said. At his words, Lucille moved at a full gallop, carrying Thomas hopefully to the right place.

The trip did take less than an hour, and at its end Thomas was incredibly sore. He resisted falling asleep a number of times by the searing pain between his legs and the importance of his mission. The fires of destruction seemed to be slowly going out, and no new ones were taking its place.

When he reached the Capital, it became quite clear that they had no idea what was going on in the countryside. People were still out in the streets, laughing
and going about their business as if nothing was wrong. Guards patrolled, smiling at passerby and joking with each other. Everything appeared perfectly fine.

That was until Thomas entered the town square.

Immediately, everyone present could feel the severity of his approach. Covered in soot and smelling of smoke, it was little wonder why he drew everyone’s attention. He looked quite literally as if he had been to Hell and back.

“Hold, sir,” one of the guards said. His armor was a polished red, a far cry from
the scored armor of his dead comrade. Thomas clicked his tongue, and Lucille came to a stop.

“I need… to speak… to someone… in charge,” Thomas forced out. What he wouldn’t give for some water. Why hadn’t he had any by the stream before he left? That was stupid of him…

“Sir, you look ill. Are you alright? What’s happened?”

It took most of Thomas’ attention just to focus on the guard speaking to him. “The countryside… is under attack. Brigands… dressed in black. Burning… they’re burning the villages and the farms…”

“What?!” the guard replied, aghast. “You must speak to the Chancellor immediately. She must hear of this.

The guard whistled, and two more guards down the street opened a gate for him.
Thomas clicked again, and Lucille headed off in that direction. If Thomas was more awake, he would have marveled at the massive amount of people surrounding him, openly staring. There were so many shops and businesses. It was a busy place.

Then Lucille and Thomas passed through the gate, and the commotion stopped immediately.

This area was all green save for the few buildings and the path. At the end of the road was a building with a pointed tip that stretched into the sky. Thomas didn’t know what it was, but he liked the way the red brick building was made, as well as the windows made of stained glass.

Lucille stopped just short of the building, and Thomas dismounted with a mix of gratitude and pain.

“Stay here,” he told Lucille, as he couldn’t tether her to anything. The horse whinnied once to show she understood, and Thomas headed inside.

“And who is this?” a female voice called as the door shut behind him. He couldn’t see where it was coming from
, mostly because he really couldn’t see.

“I… I need to warn you… people… danger…” Thomas fell to one knee, unable to keep going. Almost immediately, he felt
hands on his back and something wet pressed against his face, and he felt a little better.

“It’s okay, dear, just calm down,” the voice said, but now the voice had a face.
It was a gorgeous one, with dark brown hair and eyes so blue they seemed to be translucent. Her eyes were full of concern, which really only made her prettier. Her mouth was small but her lips were full and she had a smile of encouragement that almost made him feel better than the water she was dabbing at his forehead.

“Please, ma’am, I have to warn you. The countryside is under attack by brigands. They’ve been burning the villages, the farms… everything.”

“Oh Gods…” the woman replied, helping him to his feet. “Not that I don’t believe you, but do you have any proof of this?”

Thomas nodded, lifting his hand which had the
emblem in it. She took it from him, studying it for only a second before nodding once.

“Come with me, dear.”

“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but who are you?”

She helped him off of the floor with a sweet smile. He noticed she had a spare tooth on the left side of her mouth, and he couldn’t suppress a smile
of his own.

“I am Chancellor Valerium,” she replied. Thomas’ jaw immediately dropped, and he felt his face burn red.
Dressed in a long black cloak that hid everything but her face, Thomas never would have guessed that it was the Chancellor.

“I’m… terribly sorry, ma’am, I never saw you in person before…”

“That’s fine, dear, just try to keep walking,” she said. Thomas belatedly realized that he had stopped, his shock forcing everything else from his mind. He started walking again, trying not to lean heavily on the Chancellor and failing miserably.

She carried him to the front, passing rows of benches and candles. He briefly considered asking what this place was before deciding it could wait.

Chancellor Valerium set him down beside a bowl of water, which she used to sponge off his face.
He didn’t know what it was, but her touch made him feel better by the second. His vision was clearing, and he felt the sting from his many cuts and bruises start to fade.

She briefly called to a guard, and had him take Thomas’ message, and proof, to the King. Once this was done, she returned her full attention to Thomas.

“What was that thing? That emblem?” Thomas asked, immediately regretting wasting breath on the question.

“That was a Captain’s Seal,” Chancellor Valerium replied, “
only to be surrendered if something terrible has happened. As you are carrying and the Captain is not, it is proof of your claims.”

Thomas considered telling her that the Captain had also been about to murder him, but he felt it wasn’t necessary. The man had done the right thing in the end.

“You were very brave to bring this news to us. What is your name?”

“I’m… Thomas, ma’am,” he replied with a credible attempt at a smile. “I’m from the Kimpchik farm.

“So you’re Thomas Kimpchik, then?” she asked.

“No ma’am. Thomas Finn. I just work at the farm.
Mighty nice people there, even little Ms. Anna.”

It wasn’t until he started talking about them that he realized
how badly he missed them. He wrung his hands together, surprised when they didn’t hurt.

“How do you feel?” Chancellor Valerium asked, stroking his hair.

“Better now, ma’am, thank you kindly. But I should be getting on my way. A friend of mine has gone to warn the elves, and I need to check on her.”

“The elves?” the Chancellor repeated, “you also warned the elves?”

“Well, yes ma’am. I figure these brigands aren’t only our problem. It’d be better everyone knows, so no one else has to die.”

“These brigands,” she asked, “
what did they look like?”

“Don’t rightly
know,” he replied, “they were dressed in black and had black swords. No banners, no markings. Nothing like that.”

“How did you escape?” she said as her hand rested on his thigh. He didn’t move a muscle.

“Some of the guards were in the village, and they tried to fight them off. Gave us some time to escape. Gave their lives for me…”

He trailed off as the thought took hold, and a whirlwind
of emotion poured through him. True, the guards were going to mercilessly kill him, but at the end they had showed why they were guards in the first place. Thomas lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, feeling it crinkle under his touch.

Thomas leaned forward, burying his head in his hands.
So much destruction… so much death. Thomas couldn’t handle it. There was just so much reckless hate, so much undeserved malice. People, innocent people, had died today. People that were just trying to live.

He felt a burning growing in his stomach, a fire that reached his eyes and gave him new life.

“I must be going, ma’am,” Thomas said, standing up. She joined him, her hand on his shoulder.

“You need to rest,” she said, pushing his shoulder to get him to sit back down, but he didn’t budge.

“No ma’am,” he replied, “I need to find out who did this. I won’t get any peace until I know.”

“We’ll have an inquiry, we’ll find out…” she started to say, but Thomas shook his head.

“I understand, ma’am, and I know y’all will do your best. But there’s something I can do to help, and I’ve gotta do it.”

“I… I understand,” she replied, “go look for your answers. But be careful. Whoever these men are, they are not to be crossed.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, ma’am,” he replied as he headed for the door. He felt stronger now, somehow, either from the Chancellor’s remedy or his new purpose. Either way, he was ready for the trip.

He opened the doors and headed for Lucille. The horse looked bored, staring at him with a vacant expression. She was probably daydreaming. He was about to mount her when he realized he would be better off if she were properly equipped. That meant he would to find a saddle from somewhere in town.

“Well, come on now. We have work to do.”

Lucille followed along as he
walked the path back to the Town Square. It was still bustling with activity, and this time no one seemed to notice the outsider amongst them. What he wouldn’t give for a bath and a change of clothes.

He and Lucille passed many shops, but none of them offered a saddle.
It was only after he found himself outside of a tavern that he realized it wouldn’t have mattered if he found a saddle, as he didn’t have any money.

Thomas stopped in his tracks, at a loss as to what he should do.
The people moved around him like a creek around a boulder, and still he did not move. He finally shook himself of his dread and walked down a random side street.

He was completely unaware that he
was being followed.

“You seem at a loss, stranger,” a voice to Thomas’ left said. He turned to it, raising an eyebrow. The voice… it made his skin crawl. It was like the voice at the end of a very long tunnel that should be ignored.

Thomas was about to do just that when the voice spoke again.

“Perhaps I can help you… remedy your current situation.”

The owner of the voice stepped forward, and Thomas got a good look. His only thought was that he had seen a fair number of beautiful women today, but this one…

This one
wore her attractiveness like she wore her clothing: open and fully displayed. She was nearly as tall as he, with long legs almost completely exposed to the world thanks to a long slit in her dress. Her blouse was white and unbuttoned, tempting Thomas to shift his gaze from her face. Luckily, that wasn’t too taxing.

She had fiery red hair
that ran in curls down her back, with glowing green eyes that Thomas had to focus on
not
focusing on. She had a smile that was almost creepy the way it moved up the right side of her mouth.

It would have been tempting save for the feeling of mistrust crawling up his spine.

“Come a little closer, let’s talk,” she said, batting her eyelashes.

“Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am, but I think I’d rather not.”

“Oh,” she pouted, “and why not?”

“Cause you sure are pretty and all, but I just got the feelin’ you’re bad news.”

She laughed then, her smile only growing wider. Then she waved her hand, and before Thomas could react something very hard hit him over the head.

He fell to his knees, the world spinning around him. Before he could say or do anything, he slumped forward and the world was wiped away.

“Why not just find someone else? An actual volunteer?”

“Because no one volunteers for suicide missions that actually expect to see them completed. We need someone who wants to live. And that’s him.”

Thomas’ ears relayed the conversation to his brain before he was actually aware that he was awake. He wanted to groan, but he stifled the impulse so that he could hear the rest of the conversation.

“There’s no way he’s going to agree,” a male voice said. It sounded light and almost comical, like a child who’d yet to come of age.

“Oh, he’ll agree,” a female voice answered him. The way Thomas’ skin crawled informed him that he was once again hearing her.

“Why? We’ve got no leverage.”

“Yes we do. Just you wait and see. Wake up, little hero, I have need of you.”

Thomas debated simply lying there, but
he didn’t see any reason in delaying. With a slight groan, he sat up, but instantly fell back down as his head throbbed in terrible pain.

“Sorry about that,” the woman said, “
but if you’d just come inside we wouldn’t have had to do this the hard way.”

“Apology accepted,” Thomas said with ill-disguised scorn, “but I don’t think that gives you the right to kidnap me.”

“Oh, we’re not kidnapping you,” she laughed, “you’ll be free to go as soon as we finish our little talk.”

Thomas may not have had that much experience when it came
to people and their intentions, but even he knew better than to accept this at face value – no matter how pretty the face that was offering it.