They had reached the mayor’s house. Smiling Hutner bowed his head and whispered, “the rest the captain can tell you.” Then he spun on his heels and walked off. Elyar thought it was slightly weird behavior. But he did not have much time to think about it. The door opened as a different soldier gestured for them to come in. It might have been one of the men from earlier, but Elyar never saw their faces, so he had no way of knowing.
“Ah, Frem! We meet again! I was not sure if Theos would allow it!” Captain Dunnon said standing to his feet. No foot. He was missing a leg! “What happened to you my friend!?” Frem exclaimed seeing the
same thing Elyar had. “Where is your other leg?!”
“That is part of a long story. How much did Hutner explain before you arrived?”
“He left off at you getting attacked.” Frem said as they all took seats. Elyar sat near a window so he could see events outside. Sometimes these meetings get boring. People watching always helped.
“Ah, left the bloody parts for me then, did he” Captain Dunnon chuckled. “Well, yes, we were attacked at the worst time. Our ranks were bashed by the storm, footing was nearly impossible to hold, and we could not see any blasted thing. That is when they struck. We didn’t even know they were there at first. I still have trouble believing what we fought.”
It was at this point that Frem started leaning in. “What did you fi ght? Goblins or asheros?”
“Asheros? Those are an old wives tale. No we fought an army of goblins! There were probably nearly two hundred of them! First their arrows flew at us like flies over a pile of crap! Once I figured out what was going on, and in which direction, we were able to form a semblence of a shield wall. It was sad, but what could we do in those conditions. Then the tide rolled in and they smashed into us. Many a lad fell in the mud to never rise again.” Dunnon stopped looking down for a moment. Elyar could tell he still felt sad over his lost men.
But after a moment he continued. “That is when the worst hit. The forest trolls. They were huge. The size of two or three men. Each carried a club with spikes. Wherever their accursed weapons landed men were crushed. The lucky ones were killed on the first blow. Many were not so lucky. Our only saving grace was they only had a few of those monstrosities. Their hides were thick, but we turned them into pin cushions. One by one they fell. But not until they and their goblin brethren killed nearly half our army.” He cleared his throught before continuing. “The fighting lasted a long time. I thought we were goners when suddenly, they retreated. I thought it might be a trap, so I commanded my men to stay. We waited, but they did not return. So we remained in formation and began marching again. It was slow, and we could only sleep in half rotations, which was brutal. But we made it. By the time we arrived you had long gone. The villagers were n a panic. Someone had burned the guides house down. No one knew who or exactly when. The villagers thought it might be an invasion. But there have been no disturbances since we arrived.”
With his story concluded Dunnan leaned back in his chair expecting comments and questions. “What about your leg?” Frem said after a min ute of waiting. “What about your leg?!”
“Oh, right. A few arrows hit me and by the time we could deal with it my leg was a goner. But you don’t look very shocked by the news of goblins and trolls.”
Frem chuckled, “no. We encountered our own raiding party similar to yours. But now I wonder if ours was a search party. They seemed to be looking for something…or someone.” Frem did not reveal Elyar’s secret, but he did catch the man giving him a quick glance. Elyar was not sure if Dunnon caught the look or not. He hoped he did not. “But you would be surprised by what we encountered on the other side of the mountains. What I have refered to in my head as the Feld of Souls.”
“Field of Souls? Sounds sinister.” Dunnon said leaning forward again.
“Yes. We found the location of our soul weaver. He was hiding in an abandoned tower long forgotten. I have heard no stories of events above these mountains. But clearly there was once civilization and great fortifications. Whoever built them and when is of no matter for our story. But this evil weaver was living in one. He had summoned an army of asheros. And yes, I know you say they are fables told by old women. I thought so too. But, once your steel has slain a dozen or so, it is hard to still think so. Anyway, he had summoned an army of asheros which we had to battle. While fighting them Elyar engaged in one on one combat with the leader. He learned…actually, Elyar would you like to tell your part?”
“Ah. You want me to tell what happened in the tower?” Elyar said hesitantly. There were many points he did not want to tell. But he did not want to lie to a captain. That felt…wrong.
“Yes. Tell Captain Dunnon what you did.” Frem said curtly. Elyar now couldn’t tell why Frem wanted him to talk. His face was a mask of stone showing no emotion.
Swallowing Elyar slowly began. “During the battle I saw a glimpse of hooded man. We saw him before the fighting began as well. That is how I knew he was who we were after. He was by himself so I decided to try to end the battle before anyone got hurt. We fought back and forth for awhile. He was chatty and told me some interesting things. His name was Lyr and he was a servant of someone called the Raven King.”
Sighing, knowing he had to explain how Havol died, Elyar took another deep breath and plunged ahead. “We were evenly matched so he broke off eventually and fled. As I chased him Havol got in his way.” Elyar could feel his eyes begin to glisten a little. He looked at Frem, but his face looked like steel. cold, unemotional. “Havol did his best to fight Lyr, but he was no match. He fought valiently, but in the end. In the end Lyr smot him down and fled like the coward he is. I could not defeat
him and Havol paid the price of my failure.”
Silence. Captain Dunnon looked at Elyar with an unreadable expression. He finally spoke. “It was against my wishes to allow such a young man accompany your journey. Lord Edaam forced my hand and this is the cost. The life of one of Lord Canes best soldiers. Once we reach Fort Val your services will no longer be needed.” He waved a hand dismissing Elyar. Turning back to Frem, he continued, “now. What do we need to do? What are our next steps?”
Frem started responding, but Elyar was in a daze. Standing he headed towards the door. He already felt like Havol’s death was his fault, but to have the entire weight placed on his shoulders was different. It felt crushing. Breathing was becoming difficult. The door opened, he was not sure how. He walked through it. It closed. He heard the click behind him. Declan strolled up, patted Elyar on the shoulder, and went inside. There was the click again. It felt like the final judgement from Theos. He had been weighed. The eternal judge had looked over his deeds and fo und him wanting.
He did not know where he was walking too. His legs just started moving. They seemed to have a brain of their own. men rushed by him but he did not take much notice. Tents passed, houses passed, then trees. Everything was both a blur and stand still. He heard voices shouting ab out packing the camp up. But he only heard bits here and there.
He did not know how long his legs carried him. Seconds, minutes, hours? It did not matter. When his mind came back to reality he found himself sitting by a quiet trickling creek. He was sitting in a small grove of trees with the little river passing through it. It was peaceful. It matc hed the deadness in his soul.
“There you are! I have been looking everywhere!” Elyar glanced up and saw Jereme, Ruzur, and Sanders all walking toward him. He was glad that Sanders seemed to have found friends. He liked the man.
“Sorry. I needed somewhere quiet. I couldn’t handle disappointing anyone else.” Elyar quietly said once they were close enough. He heard them sit down near him.
“Disappoint whom? What doest thou mean?” Ruzur inquired.
Breathing in deeply, Elyar replied, “Captain Dunnon says I am to blame for Havol’s death. I know he would have done more to punish me, but being the son of a lord all he could do was disallow any further parti cipation with the Hunters.”
“Popicock. You are not to blame. No one is except for Lyr. He is to blame, he must be punished for his crimes, and it is him alone who will suffer. Not you, Elyar. Not you.” Jereme rested his hand on Elyar’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I know you feel like you are trapped between an anvil and the hammer. This King of Raven’s is standing on one side trying to control you while on the other side stands Korax and the life you were born into. I see now that the life of a lord is not all glamor…Though there is still more glamor than mine.” Jereme tried adding some humor at the end. It did make Elyar smile. He appreciated what his friend said. It did not fully remove the feeling of failure. But it helped.
“I am new to this group, but I have a feeling that Jereme is correct. You are put in a hard place. I don’t know what the Raven King wants, but he does not seem like a man easily dissuaded.” Sanders said.
Ruzur had moved to sit across the little creek from Elyar. He saw his head nodding up and down in agreement. “I pledge to thee, once returned to Fort Val I shall revoke mine membership in the Hunters. I shall
join thee in thy quest to find Lyr and end his miserable existance.”
Elyar was shocked to hear the conviction in his friend’s voice. But he was glad to have such a fierce friend and warrior by his side. “Thank you
Ruzur. I don’t think I could fail if you stand beside me.”
“Well what about me? If we are hunting down an evil blight I want to join!” Jereme shouted arms wide.
Laughing, Elyar looked at his friend, placed his arm around Jereme’s shoulder and brought him in for a big side hug. “Of course you are coming. Who else will sing our songs? I trust no one else for this tale!” He released Jereme who had the largest smile on his face.
“Is there room for a third…or fourth, I guess?” Sanders asked
sheepishly. “If there is a chance to defeat the Soul Weaver I want in.”
Elyar looked at the other two to judge their response. Both gave a small nod. Elyar smiled because Jereme still had his ridiculous grin over his face. He looked willing and ready to go burn the world. Looking back at Sanders, Elyar replied, “absolutely. Though there is one thing we will need to do.”
“What is that?” Sanders asked.
“We have never seen you fight. Can you wield a weapon?”
Laughing, Sanders stated, “I thought it was something serious. I have seen a fight or two in my day. I prefer longswords over the usual sword and shield combo.”
Looking at the other again, Elyar quizzically asked, “do we have access to the armory at all? I know my shield is dented pretty bad, and we
should probably trade out our worn leathers for heavier stuff.”
Ruzur answered, “I still have access to what thee needs. I shall go
now to see what is here. Unfortunately, thou may have to wait till Val.” Nodding, Elyar thought about what had just happened. He was still a little in shock actually.
Jereme broke the short silence, “Welp, I guess we should pack up and get ready to leave. I heard a commander or whatever ordering camp breakdowns. They are leaving in the morning.”
“Good. I’m ready to be in a city again. Never thought I would say that.” Elyar chuckled while standing up.
The others stood with him before starting to walk back to the village. There was not a lot for Elyar to do since his bag had never been unpacked. To avoid Frem and Captain Dunnon, Elyar set up his tent on the outskirts of town. He chose a small grove of trees on the southern side overlooking the plains. It was peaceful but gave him a good view of events. He was there for a little while, he did not know exactly how long, before Jereme joined him and began setting up his tent.
Elyar absently watched him while playing with his blessed stones. He was thinking about their experiment from about a week ago now. While in the mountains he had not thought about it much. Honestly, he had just been to tired. Now he was curious. If the rock blessed with the fracture rune still could not break the rock blessed with unbreaking, what could it break? To test his thoughts he picked up another rock. Holding both in his hands he smacked them together. Not as hard as last time, but hard enough. A small crack sounded startling Jereme. A smile splashed over Elyar’s face for accidentally scaring his friend. But it quickly turned into a frown when the non blessed rock did not break.
The sun was beginning to disappear. That meant it was time to make dinner and go to bed. It was going to be a long week of walking. This time, he was not looking forward to it. He did not know how to act around Frem now. He had not realized how bitter he had become toward him. Captain Dunnon’s words still cut.
Elyar had not noticed until the smell hit him, but Jereme had already started dinner. Wonderful. His stomach growled as he sat by the fire. It had been a long day already and neither seemed that chatty. After eating both said their goodnights and headed to bed. Sweet, sweet sleep quickly overtook Elyar.
A crack of lightning woke Elyar. Darkness and rain assaulted him. Blinking, trying to orient himself, another flash illuminated his surroundings. He was not in his bedroll any more. The lightning had shown him an open field. He did not recognize the field at first. Brushing his hand against the grain, for he realized he was standing in a grain field, he grabbed a few kernals to inspect them. Wheat. Why am I in a wheat field in the pouring rain? Crap, this must be another vision. Now what?
Another bolt illuminated the night. Standing before him, completely unharmed by the weather, stood Rhysander. His blue eyes piercing into
Elyar’s soul. Unlike last time, he already looked angry.
“Thou hast spurned my generosity Little Lordling! I declared to thee last time, if thee did not join mine army there would be consequences!” Rhysander slowly approached Elyar as he spoke. His fair complexion slowly began to morph. He grew taller, beginning to tower over Elyar. His pale face started to turn more plant like. The curvature of his face flattened leaving only slots for his eyes which radiated like a winter storm acr oss an icy river, and his mouth. He was terrible to behold.
Elyar instinctively began walking backwards. His hand reached for his sword, but nothing was there. He quickly glanced down to be sure. There was no weapon.
l
Fear mixed with anger swelled inside Elyar. He hated Rhysander. Hated the choices he gave him, the box he was trying to squeeze him into. Balling his fingers into fists he looked up into the alien face of
Rhysander. “You shall see me. You shall find me. But I will destroy you!” He struck his right fist as hard as he could into the soft clothing of Rhysander’s stomach. Rhysander buckled a little as surprise and amusem ent crosse his eyes.
“Is that how thee desires to play?” A wicked smile crossing his face. “So be it.” Without warning the world shimmered before returning back to normal. Nothing had changed. The storm still raged around Elyar, Val still burned in the distance, but then a lightning strike illuminated the sky again. Rhysander stood in full steel armor. A helmet with a facemask was now on Rhysander’s head. His black leaflike armor from before ador ned his body. A wicked greatsword was already in his grasp.
A soft laughter emited from the mask, “doest thou think thee can defeat me in combat? I am better than my servant. But thee shall discover that shortly!” He swung his greatsword in an arch slamming it down where Elyar should have been. But he had leapt out of the way just in time. He had not noticed before, but he was also wearing heavy plat armor. A longsword was strapped to his waist and a helm was in his hand. Donning the helmet quickly, Elyar ripped the sword from its sheath. Its weight and balance felt familiar to Elyar. It was just like the one he had sparred with against Master Pyke. I shall not let you down, master.
As the rain rattled against their steel armor, Rhysander swung his sword aiming for Elyar’s shoulder. He easily blocked it, but the weight of the attack drove him back a little. Rhysander quickly spun slashing his sword in the other direction. His speed was shocking. Elyar barely had time to meet the blade. His opponent disengaged, taking a step back. Is he toying with me?
CRACK! Lightning tore open the sky. Rhysander lunged at him again striking faster and harder before. Elyar blocked the first two strikes before one landed on his side. The weapon did not break through his armor, but he felt some ribs break. Pain shot through him and breathing became a little harder.
Rhysander did not relent. Strike after strike he reigned steel upon Elyar. He was able to block most of the strikes, but Rhysander was able to land to many. Another strike to the side. More ribs broken. A strike to his left shoulder. He was not sure if anything broke, but the pain was incredible.
Besides the pain and difficult breathing, Elyar was slowing down.
His blokes and counter strikes where becoming slow and clumsy. Rhysander, on the other hand, seemed as fresh as when they begun. Eventually, Elyar slipped in the mud, falling to one knee. He sword flew into the night. Panting, exhausted, Elyar rested his hands on his knee. Rhysander stood above him, his sword resting on his shoulder. He used his other hand to remove his helmet releasing his long black hair to fly in the wind. Elyar took his helmet off as well.
“See Lordling. Thee are no match for me. End this folly now. Join
mine army! I can make you as great a warrior as I!”
His breathing was difficult. The pain in his side and shoulder were nearly unbearable. But non of that mattered. He was beaten, but not defeated. Slowly standing Elyar looked into the icy eyes before him. Even in his current state, Elyar could tell Rhysander was smiling. Taking one last shaky breath Elyar calmly replied, “I. Shall. Never. Serve. You!”
Rhysander shook his head as his smile grew into a wicked grin. “So be it.” With one mighty kick to Elyar’s chest, Rhysander launched him into the night. Pain unimaginable erupted when he hit the ground. Pain, then blackness.