The Stewards of Reed, Volume 1: The Rise of Fallon (31 page)

Ever since Steward Isaiah had been struck with Silas’s arrow, a lingering pain resided in his chest and he was perplexed by a certain weakness that would come on suddenly, leaving him unable to do much but sit down wherever he was until the feeling subsided. Elder Catherine had been by to see him, but aside from prescribing some herbs, she was at a loss as to how to help him. So the Steward began to enlist Gentry’s help with more of Fallon’s lessons. Gentry was more than happy to spend additional time with his best friend, and it was even better that he was being paid to do so. He had his eye on a necklace that would look beautiful on Daria.

Before the winter set in, Steward Isaiah, Fallon and Gentry made a trip down to Henly. Having seen Bartow, Fallon was not as impressed with the size of Henly, but he was impressed with the amount of commerce that took place within the little trading town. There was a bustling port with all sorts of goods brought in from Sandoval and Laredo, and all sorts of goods that were destined for those very same towns. Henly was fast-paced and downright chaotic at times, but there was a certain energy about it that Fallon found addictive.

Although the first snowfall came early that year, it ended up being a rather mild winter with only a few small storms. This was especially fortuitous for the Village of Reed as their food reserves were still quite low, having lost so much during the Komanite raid the previous spring. Many were hopeful that the rationing would end with the coming of spring. In the meantime, Hammond was busy training his army to protect what little food reserves they had.

It would have been a rather unremarkable winter if it were not for the recurring dream that haunted Fallon for days after every incident. But still he did not speak of it. Nor did he speak of the beautiful girl with the jet-black hair who otherwise occupied his thoughts when they were not entangled with the Steward’s lessons, drinking with Gentry, or the dream.

Far away in Mt. Xavier, Lady Dinah also said nothing. She sat in silence with Lady Blythe day after day, meal after meal, listlessly moving from one white room to another. And she would have stayed that way all winter if not for the call. One morning, the entire castle was awakened by a sound that can most closely be described as that of a wet finger encircling the rim of a crystal glass. Lady Dinah had not heard that sound since before the Second War of the Wizards, and her heart grew anxious and even a bit fearful. As she stepped close to her crystal ball, the fog inside the sphere dissipated and the image of Lady Adeline, now with hair as white as snow, appeared. “Something has happened to my father. Lord Milton is missing. Beware all.
Beware
.”

A light snow was falling when Lady Dinah found herself in the little alleyway with the metal wind chime that was just like her mother’s. And again she found herself waiting – even though she now knew how to open the door. Others were coming, and they did not.

Lord Clintock was the first to arrive. He was somber but polite, as always. “Good morning, my Queen. It is good to see you again, though I wish the circumstances were different.”

Lady Dinah smiled. “It is always good to see you, Lord Clintock, though you need not call me ‘Queen’; I keep looking around for my mother.”

The older wizard smiled kindly in acknowledgment and stood back against the brick wall as he took out his pipe. For a while they were silent, watching the swirl of pipe smoke rise against the falling snow. The sound of hurried footsteps broke their gaze, and a slight figure appeared before them.

“Apologies for being late. I went out for more tea.” Lady Adeline pulled back her hood, and Lady Dinah was surprised to find her hair was still stark white.

“You are not late. We are still waiting for one more,” said Lady Dinah.

“And here I am,” came a voice around the corner of the L-shaped alleyway. It was the voice of Lord Rowan. Lady Dinah’s heart skipped a few beats, but she managed to look him in the eyes and smile softly. He smiled in return.

“Thank you all for coming. Please follow me.” Lady Adeline opened the hidden door and swiftly navigated the maze of tunnels below the streets of Bartow. Before long all four wizards were standing in Lord Milton’s flat. The impeccably dressed young men were long gone; Lady Adeline had sent them home when she arrived the week prior. They told her they had not seen the “professor” for nearly half a year and had assumed he was on yet another sabbatical.

As they sat down for tea, Lady Adeline explained how she had waited until the end of summer for her father to arrive. But when autumn took hold she knew she had to leave and find him; she was worried he had encountered trouble somewhere en route to Lucerne. Lord Milton was not a creature of habit, however, and Lady Adeline had no idea if he had planned to take the southern route through Quintara, the middle route through Aberdeen or the northern route through Stratford.

“I went south,” she said, “zigzagging through Orinda, Genoa, Cordova, Laredo and finally Henly, but I did not find him anywhere. No one recalled seeing him.” Her eyes lowered and her voice became softer. “I did not feel his presence anywhere that I traveled…and I do not feel it here either.”

The wizards shifted uncomfortably in their seats. They did not feel his presence either.
Lord Milton was gone, but where?

They parted later that afternoon, each promising to be on the lookout for Lord Milton: Lord Clintock would search the Laureline Region, Lady Dinah would search the Stratford Region, Lord Rowan would search the Aberdeen Region. Lady Adeline was to return to Lucerne and search the Durango Region.

“Be careful, Lady Adeline – things are quite unsettled there,” Lord Rowan urged.

“I know. I live on the border, remember?” she snapped. Then tears began pooling in her light green eyes. “I must find him. I am lost without my father.”

“We shall find him,” Lady Dinah said, placing her hand on Lady Adeline’s shoulder.

Lady Dinah spent the rest of the year searching for Lord Milton. She even risked another uncomfortable visit with Lord Quaid, but it was all for naught. Lord Milton was not there. Lord Milton was not anywhere.

When a wizard dies, his body turns to dust. Several months prior, Lord Cephas had carefully collected the dust of Lord Milton into a copper vessel and brought it to the edge of the River Nye. The Eastern Wizard slowly emptied the contents of the vessel and watched as the current carried that dust far away, eventually to the shores of the West Samora Sea and beyond. It was a proper burial, even by Western Wizard standards.

*************

Tobias eyed his oldest son with pride. Fallon had grown into a fine young man; he could not believe the boy would be celebrating his 17
th
birthday soon. He watched as Fallon rode up the path with Attawan, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

“Slow down there, or your horse might lose his step!” Tobias called out with a big smile on his face.

Fallon brought Attawan to a halt and smiled back. “It is good to be home. Steward Isaiah has been relentless lately!”

“It is good to see you, son,” said Tobias as he embraced Fallon.

Later that evening, Elizabeth and Talia stopped by with some pies. “I heard Tobias had a visitor and I wanted to make certain the birthday boy was well fed,” joked Elizabeth.

“Much obliged,” replied Fallon, already stuffing his face.

Eventually the younger ones headed out to the front porch, watching the sun as it set over the horizon.

“You are thirteen now, am I right?” asked Fallon, hoping to break the awkward silence with Talia.

“Aye,” she said, blushing.

“I never had a chance to ask you before: what did you decide to do? Are you staying in school or have you decided to go into business selling baked goods with your mother?” Fallon winked at the latter part of the question; everyone knew he was a big fan of their breads and pies.

“I stayed in school, actually,” she said. “I should like to go to the university in Bartow someday.”

“That is wonderful!” said Fallon, impressed.

Talia smiled brightly at his approval.

“Not me,” said Zeke. “I am done with schooling. I would leave now if I could. I would much rather be working the farm, outside in the fresh air, than in that stuffy old schoolhouse.”

Fallon laughed at his brother and ruffled his hair. “Education is important, too,” he said.

“Too bad it is so boring,” frowned his brother.

Fallon and Talia both rolled their eyes and laughed. “You are positively hopeless,” she teased.

This made Zeke smile brightly.

This particular trip to Littlebrook was short, only a week. Steward Isaiah was becoming increasingly anxious at how much was left to teach Fallon, and how quickly the time was flying by. “I fear I wasted so much valuable time before, we must make up for that now,” the Steward explained.

*************

While Fallon was away in Littlebrook, Gentry finally returned to Colton. He was surprised to find that Dennison was not there. His men were there – still hanging out at the Settler’s Inn, creating havoc where ever they wandered – but Dennison was not. His shabby green house was dark with no signs of life.
Perhaps he went on holiday?
thought Gentry, disappointed.

Every month or so Gentry would make a return trip to Colton, but still there was no sign of Dennison. One night in Heptuly, Gentry decided it was time to investigate further. He had to know what happened to Dennison, so he broke into the shabby green house. Gentry had been careful, or so he thought, and he made certain no one was around as he lit a small lantern and walked through the house. It had been packed up in a hurry. Drawers were still left open, dirty dishes sat in the washing tub. A few small toys were on the floor, surrounded by dust that had not been swept out in quite some time.

“Where did he go?” Gentry mumbled aloud. Discouraged, he blew out the lantern and headed out the door. As Gentry stepped off the front porch, a figure suddenly leaped out at him from behind a bush.

“Slim, hurry! I have him!” A large man had knocked Gentry down and was trying to grab hold of him. He eventually wrestled his way atop Gentry, pinning him down.

A smaller man, presumably Slim, came running up to them brandishing a knife. “Wizards be damned, Dennison was right. He said the fool would come back looking for him,” Slim said, eying Gentry closely. “Stand up. Slowly,” he ordered.

Troy dragged Gentry up, holding him stiffly by the arm. But Gentry’s eyes were not on Troy or Slim, they were on the knife.

“What should we do with him now? Kill him?” asked Troy.

“No, Dennison wants him alive. We must send word that we have him,” replied Slim.

Just then a loud neighing sound came from the shadows and the men turned their attention for a mere second. That was all the time Gentry needed. He kicked Troy in the shin as hard as he could and tore away from him, running as fast as his legs would allow towards Casper – the source of the neighs in the shadows. Slim tried to run after him but he could not match Gentry’s speed. He cursed loudly as Gentry galloped away.

“Much obliged, my friend,” Gentry whispered in the horse’s ear as they left Colton. “Your neighs have never been such a welcome sound to my ears.”

*************

Fallon returned to Littlebrook several months later, keeping his promise not to miss any of his younger brother’s birthdays. Zeke was ten years old today, and the proud boy was happy to announce this fact repeatedly to all who would listen.

In honor of the special occasion, Tobias had presented his young son with a bow and several arrows.

“This is the best present ever!” exclaimed Zeke. “Come on, Fallon. Let us go find something to shoot!”

The boys made their way out to a nearby tree; its trunk was thick enough to be a decent target, and there was not much else around should the arrows go awry.

Fallon showed Zeke how to hold the bow properly, he had plenty of experience with that. “Now, do not be discouraged if you fail to hit the tree at first. It took quite some time and practice before I was able to hit my targets. I still miss most of them,” Fallon confessed.

Zeke let the arrow fly.
Thwark
. His first time shooting a bow and arrow and it was a direct hit – right in the center of the trunk. He repeated the feat several more times, at various distances, proving to himself and Fallon that it was not just beginner’s luck. Zeke was a natural.

Fallon just shook his head. “Of course you would be good at this.”

*************

In Nonatember, Steward Isaiah announced that they would be taking another trip – this time to Jessum. Not being a fan of the mining town, Gentry groaned at the news, but Fallon was quite excited. He still had fond memories of the wayward visitor from Jessum interrupting his class in Littlebrook all those years ago.

“There is a special element I shall need for our next lesson that may be found in Jessum,” Steward Isaiah explained. “Besides, it is good for you to visit all the villages and towns in the Laureline Region. One day we may even go to Colton, though there is not much to that lawless village.”

Gentry frowned at the reference to Colton. He had not yet figured out how he would learn of Dennison’s whereabouts. He knew he could not show his face back in Colton anytime soon, not after what happened the last time with Troy and Slim, but he did not know how else to track the man down. He had come so far – it was frustrating to be denied final closure for Luca.

They wandered the streets of Jessum. It was littered with general stores and other places that sold mining equipment, jewelers, banks, pubs and establishments where women dressed up and called out to men on the streets. Prospectors would come down from the Cook Mountains each evening and drink or screw away whatever paltry sum of money they had collected from the jewelers and banks that day. In truth, although the Cook Mountains were full of riches, those riches reached very few hands. For every prospector who struck gold, twenty others walked away with nothing save dirt for their troubles.