The Twilight Lord (35 page)

“My mother was on the hill picking berries when the Forest Lords swept into our village. She could see the slaughter and mayhem from her vantage point and realizing what was happening she fled into the deep wood, where several months later she gave birth to me. When I was four a party of Forest Lords discovered us. She saved my life by telling them that I had been in her belly on that fateful day. She begged for my life knowing her own would soon be taken. The Forest Lords slew her before me, and then thought it would be amusing to have a giant child as a slave. Since I had not been born until after the destruction visited upon our people the Forest Lords believed their secret was safe. They were not aware that our people have a collective memory that is passed to infants in the womb.”

Skrymir nodded slowly and then he asked, “Are you still in the forest? If you are we will come and rescue you and slay as many of the Foresters as we can!”

“Nay, Father, I escaped several years ago. I am the horse master of the Shadow Princes. I make my home at Shunnar, in the desert of Hetar. I have a wife and children.”

“How have you found me?” Skrymir wanted to know. “If you have a happy existence then why do you seek me out?”

“You serve the Twilight Lord, my father,” Og said. “Why do you and those with you who are of the light serve the darkness?”

“Because Lord Kol was the only one willing to shelter us after our families were destroyed,” Skrymir said. “We dared not take our complaints and our case to the High Council of Hetar. We dared not even allow the Forest Lords to learn that some of us had survived. Look what they did to your mother. One frail woman with a small child and they still feared exposure enough to murder her because she knew their secret. Do you believe they would have shown you any mercy had they known of our collective memory? We fled from the forest across the desert and, finding a sea at its far edge, we waded across it. But the land upon the other side, even though empty of mortals, was not suited to our way of life so we traveled onward toward the mountains that make up the Dark Lands. It was here we found safety. We owe Lord Kol much for his kindness to us.”

“Your master wishes to conquer Hetar and Terah, the land below the mountains,” Og said slowly.

“Hetar is a weak kingdom. It needs a strong master, and the Twilight Lord means to be that master. As for Terah, its people are simple folk who will be easily taken,” Skrymir said.

“Father, while Hetar is in its decline, Terah is not. And that land you found deserted on the other side of the Obscura when you fled Hetar is now populated with the clan families of the old Outlands of Hetar. They accept the Dominus of Terah as their overlord. He is a strong man and his wife is a powerful faerie woman.”

“How do you know this?” Skrymir asked.

“Because the Domina of Terah is my friend, and Prince Kaliq of the Shadows is her mentor. The Twilight Lord is now penned within his castle by Prince Kaliq’s magic. He will remain there for a hundred years. He can lead no armies of unjust conquest against Hetar and Terah, Father. The Dark Lands is leaderless right now.”

“Lord Kol may be confined, but the rest of us come and go at will,” Skrymir said. “We will follow his orders and go forth to conquer.”

“To what purpose?” Og countered.

“Because he has asked us to,” Skrymir said. “Because he is the only one to shelter our people, my son.”

“You never asked others, Father. Your complaint is not fair. Why would you follow after someone who would do to the peoples of Hetar and Terah what the Forest Lords did to our people?” Og wanted to know. He looked up at this father he had never known. “Many will die.”

“You are slight of stature,” Skrymir noted, “but you are large of intellect, my son. I have not considered the consequences of a war before now.”

“At their height the Forest Giants were few in number,” Og pointed out. “The City of Hetar has a large population and then there are the provinces outside of The City which now include the Outlands. There are many who will suffer from your master’s desire for conquest. And why does he seek Hetar and Terah?”

Now Skrymir looked confused. These were questions to which he had no answer.

“Is there hunger in the Dark Lands? Has the population grown too large for your borders?” Og persisted. “If these things are so then could you not seek aid from your neighbors in Hetar and Terah? Why must you march forth and slay them? What have these innocents ever done to you?”

“You are hurting my head with all your questions,” Skrymir complained. “Our people owe the Twilight Lord their allegiance.”

“The lord Kol sits in his castle directing his minions to go forth to their destruction,” Og said. “Do you believe Hetar and Terah so weak that they will not fight back? They already know of your coming and are preparing to defend themselves,” Og lied. “The surviving Forest Giants are few. How many will be killed in this foolish foray? And are the dwarfs and Wolfyn so numerous that they, too, can allow their ranks to be decimated? While you go to war, Kol will sit back and watch. He has not even the courage to lead his armies himself, Father. And this is who you would follow into death?” Og stood tall before his sire, his big hands upon his hips.

“I can listen to you no longer,” Skrymir said irritably. “You confuse me, my son. If indeed you
are
my son and not some fabrication of magic.”

“I am your son,” Og assured his father. “If you doubt me then come down from your mountains. I will meet you on the other side of the sea which you previously crossed in your flight. You will see I am real. Just be careful in your passing that you do not harm any of the Outland clan families or their livestock who now populate the region. I will await your coming.” He could feel himself fading from the Dream Plain. It was an amazing sensation. “Come to me!” Og called to Skrymir, then he awakened in his large bed. He lay quietly for some long moments. He could see the day beginning to overcome the night outside of his chamber and all was quiet about him. Finally he arose and pulled on his boots.

It had been a wondrous night, although he felt just the tiniest bit tired. He had to have been sleeping for at least six hours. Had it all be real? Or just a dream? The prince would know. Og departed the chamber and went down into the valley, where the horses he tended were grazing placidly in the early light of dawn. He walked among them, for the beautiful beasts soothed him, and he was yet disturbed by his meeting with his father. Skrymir seemed a hard man. But searching his collective memory, he could not find the words
hard
or
cold
in relation to his race. Forests giants were known to be gentle creatures. The man he had met in the night did not fit that description. He had looked like a hardened warrior. But that the face that had looked at him had been his own, he would have doubted that Skrymir was his sire. Og sighed, turning back to cross the great meadow back to the prince’s palace. Kaliq would be awake now and he would want to know exactly what had happened when Og traveled upon the Dream Plain. The giant found his master, Lara and Ilona in the garden eating their morning meal.

The prince waved Og to his side, offering him a cup of fresh-squeezed juice. “You look tired, my friend,” Kaliq said. “Can you tell us of your journey?”

Og swallowed down the liquid in his cup. It seemed to restore him. “I met Skrymir,” he began and then he told them everything in careful detail. “I did not once mention Lara by name,” he said. “I do not believe that Skrymir knew that the mate Kol chose was the Domina of Terah. And he did not ask me how I found him, which was curious.”

“His surprise probably outweighed his curiosity,” Kaliq noted. “What of his loyalty to the Twilight Lord?”

“I sense he feels more gratitude to Lord Kol for sheltering the surviving Forest giants than any deep loyalty to him,” Og said thoughtfully. “The many questions I posed to my father seemed to confuse him, but I believe when he has time to consider them he will think harder on those issues. He told me that while I was small of stature I was big of intellect.” Og chuckled. “It is the first time I have ever been accused of being wise.”

“But you
are
wise, dear Og,” Lara told him.

“My lord prince,” the giant said, “I have challenged my father to meet me on the edge of the Sea of Obscura that he may see I am not simply a dream creature but his flesh and blood son. Will you use your magic to transport me there?”

Kaliq nodded. “I will go with you, but I will remain in the shadows unless you need me.”

“Why does this giant lord wish to see Og in the flesh?” Ilona asked irritably.

“Because he is a father who has only just learned he has a son, Ilona,” the prince dryly answered her. “Surely you understand a parent long separated from a child wanting to see that child, to touch that child, to embrace that child.”

The faerie queen flushed. “Aye,” she said softly, reaching out to take her daughter’s hand. “I understand.”

“When is this meeting to take place?” Lara wanted to know.

“I expect he will come in the next day or two,” Kaliq said slowly. “He will be curious.” He turned to Og. “We will depart today. Go and tell your wife that the prince needs your company for the next few days. You do not want her worrying.”

Og arose from the grass. “Very good, my prince,” he said and hurried off.

“What good does this face-to-face meeting do when it is Lara we are attempting to protect?” Ilona said impatiently. “I do not care a whit for Hetar or Terah. It is my child I would have protected.”

“If Kol cannot leave Kolbyr,” Lara said, “but can direct his armies nonetheless, Mother, it is important that we weaken his alliances before he begins this conflagration. Gaius Prospero has no idea what he could be up against. And even with strong magic it will be difficult for Terah to defend itself against Kol’s creatures. If Kol took Hetar, it would be difficult for Terah to defend itself on two fronts. We must prevent this war and that means we must destroy the bonds the Twilight Lord has forged with his allies.”

“It would be far simpler if we just saw that this dark spirit slept for the next thousand years,” Ilona said.

“The balance, my queen,” Kaliq reminded her. “The balance.”

“Do not lecture me, oh Prince,” Ilona said, sniffing irritably. “But tell me, what would be so dreadful if the balance was tilted far to the light and toward the good for the next thousand years? Would it really be that awful?”

“Before a true balance might then be restored,” Kaliq said, “we would be forced to live through an equal period of evil and darkness, my queen. Would you visit that upon us all? For now the balance is shifted just slightly to the good and to the light. It is the way it should be for we shall never be able to eradicate the darkness entirely. It will always lurk about the edges of our world. Even the fabled world of Belmair which glows like a great star in our skies struggles to keep perfect order. Light and dark. Good and evil. It is a never-ending battle, Ilona, and I know you know it.”

The faerie queen sighed. “This Twilight Lord is just so difficult a conundrum, and I fear for my daughter.”

“Your daughter has only begun to fulfill her destiny,” Kaliq said quietly.

Og returned at that moment. “I have spoken with my wife. She will take the time I am away to visit her family in the desert below,” he said. “I am ready whenever you are, my prince.”

And then to their surprise Prince Kaliq began to grow in height until he was as tall as Og. Flinging his cloak about himself and the giant they disappeared.

“I did not know he could do that,” Lara said, amazed.

Ilona laughed. “He can do anything,” she said admiringly.

“Why, Mother,” Lara teased her parent, “I am surprised. Was Kaliq ever your lover? Do you know how old he is?”

“Whether he was ever one of my lovers,” the faerie queen said, “is not a matter for discussion. As for his age, he is just slightly younger than time itself.”

“Yet he never changes,” Lara murmured softly.

Ilona made no reply.

“I suppose,” Lara finally said, “that I should go home now. Magnus will probably already be beginning to fret.”

“Not yet,” Ilona replied. “There is still the matter of your approaching the Twilight Lord on the Dream Plain. I think it too dangerous, my daughter.”

“It is dangerous,” Lara agreed, “but he will not stop seeking to bring me back to him unless he can be convinced that I do not love him enough to go with him.”

“Do not tell me that you came to love him?” Ilona exclaimed, horrified.

“Kol is a lonely man, Mother. He was never cruel to me. I believe that is what made it easy for me to deceive him once Kaliq regained my memories for me.”

“You must harden your heart, Lara,” Ilona said. “That bit of humanity within you will cause your downfall if you are not careful. The Twilight Lord stole you away from your husband and your children. He caused them and the clan families much grief. He set Gaius Prospero to making plans to war with Terah. The Twilight Lord is evil, my daughter, and evil sometimes disguises itself so that it appears almost palatable. But it is not! Kol thought only of himself, his desires, his needs. His kindness toward you was for a purpose. To convince you that he was your mate, your lover. To cajole you into depending upon him and him alone. Do not be fooled, Lara. And do not allow him to draw you back into his dark web. His heart is black to its core.”

Lara sighed. “I know you are right, Mother,” she agreed. “But if I am to protect Magnus and the children, if I am to prevent this war that Gaius Prospero is attempting to foist upon Terah, I must be completely free of the Twilight Lord. I cannot banish him as I did his ancestor, Usi. I must convince him that what we had was false. That I cannot ever love him as he would have me do. I will not venture into the Dark Lands again, but I will summon Kol to the Dream Plain. I am safe there, am I not?”

Ilona nodded reluctantly. “Aye, you are safe there, but be certain before you go that you protect yourself, for Kol will try to trick you.”

“I must go now,” Lara said, rising from the table where they had been eating. “Let me know when Kaliq is back and what has transpired for Og.”