The Terror of Thorn: Child of War: Book 2 (15 page)

              “Then mother I will end this war for you and bring peace to our land once more” Aubrey said as she left the room.

CHAPTER 24

              It had been two weeks since Xander and his company had last seen the Duke of Best. After the battle, Xander had transported all the elves home and began on his march to the merchant Javik’s home, the delay clearly getting to Samantha.

              During Xander’s march to her estate, many people joined him, wanting to fight for him, be around him. His legend spread due to the man Joveon and other old timers telling stories about his father. Xander was lost in this thought as he was setting up camp when he heard a familiar story going around about his father, almost everyone had one.

“There he is, I tell you, he is the spittin image of his Da, you know I fought for his Da back in the Witch Wars, back then Frahse would have never dared to attack us” Xander heard a random person say as he was walking by. Xander smiled inwardly at the number of troops as he began to think of them they were able to gain by doing nothing but passing through their respective towns.

Xander found out many men were conscripted into service and had no loyalties to a ruler who valued wealth above people. Many Men, some women and even some children joined his fight to put Samantha on the Throne.

As Xander walked deeper into Thorn, many people started noticing Samantha due to her father’s good works, as his penchant for charity was known far and wide. Many were happy to fight Janus and although they knew Samantha should be heir to the Throne, but the people began to see him as more of a leader. It wasn’t long until people started whispering about Xander being King, a notion he quickly dismissed. There was no way he could beat the witches in combat let alone the massive number of troops Rangel could send. Aubrey would certainly not stand for her husband ruling a nation, if anything she would rule in his stead.

Xander thought about his earlier notion of owning a little plot of land somewhere, but how long until he is found out? Rangelian gold could buy a lot of loyalty, that with his new found fame would make it hard for him to hide anywhere in this country on his own. Xander thought about this as Patrick and Samantha approached him.

“Enchanter, my bride tells me we are almost to the outskirts of her father’s lands. One more day and we will be well within its borders. What plans have you then?” Patrick asked as he looked down upon Xander.

Xander smiled inwardly, he could tell when the huge man wanted something by the way he got closer to you so you would have to look up at him. “I have no plan, other than rescue Samantha’s father, that was the mission given by the Queen herself.”

“Back to serving the crown again Enchanter?” Patrick said as he took a step back in surprise. “I thought you were blazing your own path and killing everyone in it.”

“Those were the words of a dreamer, we all know I only have two real choices, live a life of relative unhappiness in luxury, or death. There is no way Rangel would permit me to live anywhere but within its borders. I’m not stupid and I doubt you knew that already.”

“Enchanter the men here are beginning to think you should lead them, not only in the upcoming battles but even in peacetime” Patrick said as Xander could see he was being tested.

“Nonsense, the place I would lead these men is to death against Rangel. Samantha is the heir apparent. All we need to do is rescue her father, after that hopefully we could blaze a path to Janus where I will avenge my mother.” Xander said as the words rolled off of his lips making him remember his real reason for this war.

“I am glad to hear that Xander” Samantha said joining the conversation. “Princess Aubrey adores you, I think you make a great couple and soon, Gods willing, you will have a couple of bundles of joy.”

“Perhaps, but the only think clear in my mind is the need to defeat Janus. What can you tell me of the road I will take tomorrow to get into your father’s lands?”

“Xander it is pretty straight forward,” Samantha began “All you have to do is follow the main road until you come to a group of five seemly abandoned buildings. The one with the red roof has a tunnel in the basement hidden by a false wall. Strike the stone with your morning star; it should be dust afterwards unlike real stone. Follow that tunnel about a half a day’s walk and you should come up under his estate. Let my father know who you are as there will likely be guards by the entrance on my father’s side. After that it should be pretty easy, teleport my father to safety and abandon the keep. Let the King attack an empty building while we march to his capital.”

“Wouldn’t that put an enemy at our back” Patrick began “I doubt it would be long before they realize your father has deserted his home and come for us. Some of us might be able to escape due to the enchanter but at what cost? I think the smart thing to do would be after your father is safely away, me along with the rest of the Soldiers with enchanted weapons and armor should take out the leader or at the very least make him leave the field. Far as we know the witches have been beat back across the border and we are going at it alone.”

“Our problem is that we do not know where our allies are in this war. If only there was some way to find out for sure. I am needed here, I couldn’t just go off on a fact finding mission” Xander said as Priscilla walked up.

“I was thinkin about that Xander, tell me sumthin’, I remember you said you enchanted the floor of the wagon you an yer girlie was riding in. Is it possible that you could make something jus’ like it an give it to someone to carry a distance for you and you could teleport to them, instead of teleporting them to locations you have been already?”

“I suppose it is possible” Xander said as he inwardly cringed that he did not figure it out sooner. “The problem I see is that a carriage would be easy to spot and likely to get either attacked or requisitioned.”

“Why does it have to be a wagon” Samantha said as her face told Xander she had an idea. Couldn’t you just make an enchanted rug or paper drawings or something like that? It would be lightweight and a squad of soldiers dressed in the garb of the Royal Army could effectively march to the capital and find out a lot about the war.”

Xander smiled as left the little group in an effort to find some cloth. It wasn’t long before he had a two crudely drawn but working teleportation circles drawn into some cloth. Men Samantha recognized that owed her father were dressed in the garb of the royal army and sent to the border, hoping they would run into the Rangelian army and given some of the clothes Xander hand on as proof of who they are. The next day Xander started out alone to Javik the merchant’s estate.

CHAPTER 25

              The early part of the day passed along easily until Xander reached the buildings Samantha told him about. As he got closer, he could see the buildings were filled with men who noticed him instantly.

“Hey you over there.” Xander heard an older man say. “I can see by your shoddy looking armor you probably had some notion of fightin’ for this traitorous filth but yer too late. We found him and his little hidey hole here and he is on his way to see the king in chains as we speak to beg for his pitiful life. The damn Rangelians have invaded and they mean to enslave all of us Those damn witches are on the way to the capital as I speak. Any man of fightin’ age is to immediately head to the capital to defend our way of life.”

“Look boy, whether you owed allegiance to old Javik or not isn’t the issue. Them damn witches enslaving everyone is, you can join us, your poorly made armor will at least protect you a bit, or you could die right here” Xander heard another man say, one way more well dressed as he walked out of the building with at least 50 men with him.

“Well what its goin’ ta be boy?” The first man asked Xander

Xander didn’t like his immediate odds. Although he could have most likely run away, a stray arrow could have killed him. If he chose and fought the same thing could have happened, either way he was a sittin duck. Xander nodded his head.

“Can you speak son?” The older man asked.

Xander shook his head no; any speech he gave would have immediately drew alarms from within the Soldiers that something was not quite right.

“Damn boy can’t talk yet his folks dressed him in whatever the hell that black piece of shit he is wearing and sent him to die with the rest of the peasants guarding Javik” the older man said to the well-dressed one.

“Well I think that is everything, our lord will surely reward us for our efforts and we have swollen our ranks from 30 to well over 70 now Franklin. I think we should hurry to get into the Capital, while we walk we can whip this group into shape.” The well-dressed man said he pointed off into a distance and began walking.

The next couple of days couldn’t go by quickly enough for Xander, they were frustrating. No man was allowed anywhere on their own and a two man minimum was instituted to ensure no one was ambushed. What was worse, since they figured Xander couldn’t talk; he had two men around him at all times since he couldn’t raise any alarms. Xander figured he would have time to teleport but that wasn’t an option. Xander thought he probably could have left if he really wanted, but his anonymity would be shattered. If they could march him straight into the capital without anyone the wiser he could get closer to Janus than he thought possible. The main problem though Xander had was during the rest breaks, it was during then, the man in the fancy clothes as Xander began to refer to him as since he had not heard his name used, wanted the men trained somewhat on how to handle a sword.

“Man that country boy don’t know how to use them weapons Angus” Xander heard a man say behind him. “He likely ta die at first contact anyway, we should get them off of him.”

“I don’t know Alan,” Xander heard another man behind him say. “That boy’s Da didn’t send him off to fight with a mornin’ star, a sword and a dagger without being able ta use em. All I know he could be some type of prodigy with them pokers, iffn ya wanna try to take em off him, ya gonna ride that horse alone.”

“He’s slow in the head Angus, you see that silly look on his face, he aint nothin but an arrow shield. Looky here.”

Xander could feel the steps behind him speed up as someone grabbed him from behind and spun him around. Before him stood a man Xander saw was a recruit like himself, although whether he fought for Javik or not Xander was unsure. What Xander was sure about though was he had his assailant by at least three inches and two stone. Xander knew size wasn’t everything, but no real fighter would attempt to pick on an armored foe.

“Hey your Da made this himself didn’t he?” The man said as he touched Xander’s armor. “What in the hell did he make it out of? This thing aint even polished, or shaped right, you know you are gonna die depending on this thing?”

Xander smiled as he looked at the man he guessed was Alan. Giving Alan a more thorough look, Xander could see he was definitely not a warrior, more likely someone conscripted like him.

“You know how to use them pokers and such ya on ya laddie?” Alan said as he pointed to Xander’s weapons. “I might as well take em off ya right now, you gonna get yerself killed any way.”

“I think that’s my job to determine if he can fight or not” said the well-dressed man entering the conversation. “This poor bastard is likely to die, but I feel like I know him, like I seen him somewhere before. I wish you could talk and tell me who your Da is. From which way is your home?”

Xander pointed south towards Frahse, hoping the well-dressed man had never been or did not know many people there.

“Well draw your weapon of choice, I want to see if you know what exactly what you are doing” The man said as he drew his weapon, a sword obviously of Thornian make, the Rangelians being a naturally bigger people favored a longer more sturdier weapon. The weapon the man had though was even thinner the usual make, a weapon Xander figured was capable of unmatched speed. The man got into an unfamiliar stance as he waved Xander to come towards him. Xander thought about drawing his father’s blade but no doubt that would destroy the other man’s weapon and bring attention towards him. Xander instead drew the Morning Star, holding it out in front of him like a sword and drew his dagger in his off hand.

“Interesting choice of weapons, you have a sword but opted to go with a shorter cruder weapon. No doubt because of your size, I am willing to bet one such as yourself is used to hard work and could probably move around pretty well in that armor of yours.

The man went on a little attack; one Xander could see was designed to make the enemy attack, so you could judge their strengths and weaknesses. Xander decided to use his armor to his advantage, since it was unlikely the man’s sword could actually penetrate his armor. Xander used his dagger to distract, a simple technique that is easily blocked but left the defender opened to an overhead from the other hand. The man used his sword to block the dagger then turned his body in a way the Morning Star missed him completely before whirling his sword around and almost scoring a hit on Xander’s backside, a move Xander barely blocked.

“I see you have been trained somewhat, that technique you tried was amateurish, but probably able to take a novice off guard, decent defense though, let’s see what you have if a speed things up a bit?” The man- said as he began to slash at Xander following each attack up with an almost dancing motion, never being in the same place as he began each attack. Xander began using the Morning Star and the dagger more for defense, as the man’s attacks were too quick and openings were none existent. This man knew the finer points of swordplay and Xander could see at least in a one on one duel this man would be almost impossible to beat if they were both armed with a blade, but they weren’t. Xander used his off hand and flung the dagger at the man’s feet, a motion which caused him to jump back. Xander then tossed the heavy morning star at the man, causing him to spin out of the way but allowing Xander to close the distance and try to grab the man’s wrist. The man twisted and slid under Xander’s grip bring his sword to slash at Xander’s under side. Xander grabbed the sword by the blade and lifted the man with it, his grip still firmly on his weapon. The man let go of his weapon and smiled.