A Dark Tide (Book of One) (8 page)

"I caught a whiff of that smoke," he rasped as he pulled himself up into his saddle. "It's like the smell of death."

"Well, let's hope it isn't catching," Kaleb said, noticing the sickly pallor on Nathas' face.

They kicked their heels and their mounts leapt forward, racing through the forest. Clouds of purplish grey smoke were already spreading through the trees ahead of them and they had to alter their course several times to stay clear of it, which slowed them down considerably. Kaleb kept glancing behind them at the sky, hoping that they would make it far enough away that the Darga would not be able to track them, but he knew it was not very likely. It was not long before he caught a glimpse of a Darga flying above the trees behind them, and he heard a bellow from the creature, summoning the other Darga to join the pursuit. Kaleb nocked an arrow in his bow, turned around and fired a shot through the trees. Due to the movement of the horse beneath him, the shot went a little wide, but it still caught the creature on the underside of one of its wings and it fell, crashing into the branches of the trees behind them.

As they rode deeper into the forest, the trees were larger and provided better cover from the sky above, but beneath the tall canopy, there were a lot of open spaces, and several Darga dropped down, flying between the thick trunks and branches. A bolt thudded in the dirt just ahead of Kaleb's horse and he looked behind him to see a Darga fitting another deadly shaft into a crossbow. He reined his mount to the side, running under a large, low lying branch that offered some cover.

"They've got arrows," he yelled to Nathas, who had not followed him and he could see that the man was looking very grim, his face pale and his lips purple, the way some people got when they fell through the ice in wintertime. Kaleb ducked back out from under the branch and saw the Darga targeting Nathas, and he moved his horse over pushing him out of the way. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his shoulder when the bolt hit him, and he nearly fell from the force of it, but Kaleb gritted his teeth and held on tight. He turned and saw two Darga swooping down toward them, their swords drawn and he struggled to pull his blade free, with the pain in his shoulder making his vision blur.

"Turnabout," Nathas yelled, and Kaleb cut hard on the reins, driving his horse to the right, while Nathas went in the opposite direction. The two Darga shot past them as they circled around and pushed their mounts forward again. Nathas looked over at his friend, his face expressionless, and his eyes threatening to roll into the back of his head, but with his humor still apparently intact. "You've an arrow in your back, Kaleb."

"Just hang on!" Kaleb hollered back as another bolt narrowly missed him. "We're almost there."

The other two Darga had circled around and were coming in for another pass at them when, seemingly out of nowhere tree branches flew toward them, knocking them from the air. Kaleb caught the barest glimpse of several elves in the trees and looked over his shoulder to see the gaps in the forest closing up behind them. He breathed a sigh of relief, but somehow it only made the wound in his shoulder hurt even more.

They made it to a small opening at the base of an enormous tree, almost like a cave and there they saw the soldier who had helped the fellow who had been stricken by the noxious smoke, along with two horses. Kaleb dismounted and began to help Nathas down from his saddle and the soldier ran over to help.

"Did Trevan come through here?" Nathas asked him.

"He did, sir, just moments ago," the man replied. "You don't look well, sir."

"I don't feel particularly well." Nathas stumbled as his feet hit the ground.

"He breathed in that smoke," the soldier said as he and Kaleb slung each of Nathas' arms over their shoulders. Kaleb winced at the weight, with the arrow still protruding from his back, but he pushed through the pain.

"Just a sniff of it, I'm afraid," Kaleb said. "How's that other fellow doing?"

"He's dead, sir," he said. "The elves tried to help him, but it was too late. We should get the General Nathas inside."

They carried Nathas in through the opening in the tree and they saw the other man lying upon a stone slab. Several elves stood over him, in quiet but animated discussion and when they saw Nathas, they frowned then helped carry him to another bed of stone.

"Can you help him?" Kaleb asked.

"Perhaps," said one of the elves, who looked over Kaleb's shoulder. "You are in need of healing yourself."

"I can wait," Kaleb said. "He's been poisoned by that smoke, the same thing that killed that other man."

"We will do what we can here to slow the poison, then we will bring him to the city," another elf said, and she placed her hand on Nathas' forehead. "Please wait outside."

"I must ride for the city," Kaleb said to the soldier as they exited the tree. "Good job getting that other man here. You did well, even if he could not be saved. I am leaving General Nathas in your charge."

"Sir, don't you think you should get that arrow removed?"

"That, my good man, is what one might call painfully obvious, thus it is most definitely on my list of things to do," Kaleb said as he swung up into his saddle and spurred his horse onward, riding up onto a low branch that was as wide as a road.

When he made it to the elven city and dismounted his horse, Kaleb felt his head swoon, but he pressed onward, ignoring the stares of the elves as he marched along the tree branches that led to the inner part of the city. There, he found several of his soldiers, including the fellow Trevan standing outside the opening in the thick branches, apparently blocked by several masked elven guards.

"They won't let us past, sir," Trevan said, then his eyes widened when he noticed the arrow sticking out of his commander.

"Yes, yes, I know," Kaleb said before the man could comment. "I've got an arrow in my back." He walked up to the elven guards. "I am Lord Kaleb, General of the Maramyrian Army and I seek an audience with Lord Quenta and Queen Laurana."

"You are not of elvenkind," one of the guards said. "You may not enter the inner city."

"Nonsense," Kaleb said. "I have been recognized by the elven court as a Maramyrian representative, and I have urgent news that the forest is under attack. Now stand aside."

The three guards closed ranks and rested their hands on their swords. Kaleb sighed and stared at his feet, as though he was disappointed, then without looking up, he leapt forward and smashed his head into the mask of one of the guards. Surprised, the elf stumbled backward and Kaleb pushed him and dashed past the other two, then he ran as fast as he could toward the wood and stone pathways that led to the palace. He heard a commotion behind him and heard the voices of Trevan and the soldiers, and he realized that they were keeping the elves busy, preventing them from following him.

Kaleb made it to the palace and stormed into the court, where he saw Laurana and Quenta seated on a dais, with one throne sitting empty next to them. Sitting before them, the rows of the court were filled with elves, all wearing their customary masks, and they all turned at his entrance to the chamber and the sound of his boots thudding heavily across the polished wood and stone floor.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion!" yelled one of the elves.

Kaleb knelt in the center of the aisle between the rows, then he looked up at Quenta and the queen.

"I am Lord General, Kaleb Alaran," he said, giving his title. "I am the emissary of the Maramyrian people and thus am recognized by the queen and this court. I must speak at once."

"General Nathas is the recognized emissary, Kaleb," Quenta said with a smirk.

"Nathas has fallen and may be close to death," Kaleb told him. "He is with your healers now, and I hope they can save him."

"That is unfortunate," Laurana said. "We wish him well. What is it you wish to say to the court?"

"Nathas was poisoned in defense of your realm, Queen Laurana. Dozens of winged Darga attack the elven forest, your grace," Kaleb replied. "We encountered them at the river's edge, but they have breached the borders of this land."

"This we know," Quenta said. "In fact we were discussing that very issue when you burst in here."

"And you are aware that they are destroying the forest?"

"They have tried to set a few fires, but the trees have gathered groundwater in preparation for such an attack," said one of the court elves.

"I speak not of fires, or broken branches," Kaleb said. "They are spreading some kind of poison, conjured by mages and spread by winged Darga through the forest. It is an ominous smoke that withers the trees, the grass, anything living that it touches, drifting through the air and destroying life, like a poison. Two of our men have died from it and Nathas breathed only the smallest amount of it and he is close to death."

"The trees have said nothing of this," Quenta said. "They would give warning of such an thing. Perhaps your men foolishly ate some poison berries"

"I do not jest with you, Quenta," Kaleb replied, barely keeping his anger in check. "Nathas knew of the danger yet he chose to attack the black robed mages, in an effort to save this forest you hold so dear. The least you could do is to show some respect."

"General Nathas is an honorable man," Laurana interjected. "We will inquire of these events, yet it is strange that the trees have said nothing."

"Perhaps they cannot," Kaleb suggested. "If the poison smoke withers them at a touch, then perhaps they can no longer speak to you."

"You said the mages were responsible for this smoke," Laurana said. "Is it from some kind of magical fire?"

"No," Kaleb said. "From what we saw, the mage priests use their magic to create some kind of black gemstones, which the lizard men then spread from the air, scattering them through the forest. When the stones touch anything that is alive, they begin to give off a noxious smoke."

Laurana glanced over at Quenta, then she looked out toward the eyes behind the masks of the members of the court.

"If this is true, then it is most disturbing," she said. "You have our thanks, Lord Kaleb. Please allow our healers to treat your wounds, and you may rest in the palace until you have recovered." She nodded to the two guards who had shown up at the entrance to the court.

"Thank you, Queen Laurana," Kaleb said. "I will avail myself of your healers, then I must see to Nathas, if I may."

"He will be brought to the palace," Laurana said. "If what you say about these dark stones is true, then we must learn as much as we can about the effects of this poison."

"If Nathas lives, be sure to thank him," Kaleb replied as he rose painfully to his feet. "He is the one who insisted on saving the trees of your beloved forest."

He nodded to Laurana and glanced at Quenta and the members of the court, then he turned and marched out of the chamber as noisily as he had entered. When he got to the door, he recognized the elf he had smashed in the face, and he noticed a few droplets of blood at the bottom of the mask he wore, and Kaleb figured he might have broken his nose.

"Sorry about that," he said, but the elf said nothing and fell in behind him, along with the other guard, as they followed him out of the palace.

"Is what you said true?" the guard Kaleb had hit asked him. "These lizard men are poisoning the trees with dark magic?"

"Without a doubt," Kaleb said as they stepped out into the light of the elven inner city, then he stopped for a moment, blinded by the brightness outside the palace, and swayed on his feet. "Perchance, do you know where I might find one of those healers Laurana offered?" A moment later, he felt the ground rushing up at him as he fell down, face first.  Kaleb felt the hands of the elven guards lifting him from the ground as a rush of blood ran from his nose.

"I suppose I had that coming," he mumbled as he lost consciousness.

The stone streets of Kandara were dark and empty save for a few guards and the occasional small group of people wearing robes of white or grey, in accordance with Mirdel's decree. Most of the people had been put to work, laboring in the mines, looking for a rare ore that Mirdel, with the help of the few black robed mages who remained in the mountain kingdom, had been sending by the wagonload to Maramyr. The most numerous among the Kandarans in the city appeared to be those robed in white.

"What is wrong with them?" Dala asked, looking at the dozens of prisoners who sat naked on the floor of the storehouse, bound with ropes.

All of their eyes were a kind of milky white, and though they could see, they simply stared straight ahead, barely noticing their surroundings. None of them had put up any kind of a fight either, allowing themselves to be herded like cattle, and stripped of their robes without so much as a fuss.

"It is a dark magic," Keira told her. "The soldiers who fought for Cerric were spelled in a similar way by the priesthood."

"It disgusts me what has been done to my people," Borrican growled, his eyes smoldering with anger. "Even if we kill the soldiers and this Duke Mirdel, we must find a way to free Kandara from the spell of the dark god."

Dala reached into a pouch that was tied at her waist, hidden beneath the silvergold armor she now wore, and she took out a clear gemstone, then she walked over to one of the Kandaran prisoners, a young girl who sat, staring blankly at her.

"Dala, what do you intend to do?" Ariana asked, as the woman crouched down in front of the girl.

"If it is magic that affects them, perhaps the stones will draw it out," she said, and she held the gem up and pressed it to the forehead of the girl.

The stone pulsed with light, then it turned a purplish black color and it glowed darkly in the dim light of the storehouse. Dala muttered something under her breath, and the girl's eyes suddenly went wide with shock and she gasped.

"What are you doing to her?" Borrican asked, taking a step toward the woman.

"It is all right," Margo said. "Look at her eyes."

As the milky white glaze receded from the girl's eyes, the stone Dala had pressed against her forehead turned completely black then it started to hiss. Dala pulled her hand away and the stone fell to the wooden floor and a small puff of white smoke rose from it, then it cracked down the middle and the hissing stopped. Dala pulled out her dagger and touched the stone and it crumbled, turning to ash.

"A dark power it is," she pronounced, stepping away from it.

The girl who sat upon the floor, bound with the others, but with her eyes free of the spell began to sob quietly. Her tears ran white at first, expelling whatever it was that had clouded her eyes, then they turned clear and she bowed her head and stared at the floor in front of her as she continued to weep.

"What is your name, child?" Dala asked in a surprisingly tender way. She knelt down and placed her fingers under the girl's chin. She did not answer, and Dala shifted her hand, tilting her face upward and her voice took on a firmer tone. "Look at me."

"Please," the girl said, her eyes squeezed shut. "Please, let me go."

"What is your name?" Dala asked her, letting go of the girl's chin.

"Jan," she said, her voice unsure, almost as though it was a question.

"You are safe here," Dala told her. "What is past is passed."

Jan finally looked up at her, with eyes filled with tears and she nodded. Dala crouched down and cut the ropes that bound her wrists and ankles together, the she helped her to her feet.

"Is it wise to let her loose?" Keira asked and Dala turned and looked at her and the others with an expression of suppressed anger.

"In the glass of the stone, I have seen more than I ever wished to see," she said, looking at the group. "This girl and her people will never be bound again."

"What did you see?" Ariana asked.

"That is not for me to tell," Dala said, then she nodded to her people and they spread amongst the captured Kandarans and repeated what she had done, helping to free them from the dark magic.

Ariana nodded to Jan, accepting that she would not press the issue, for she could surmise what might have happened to her. When she had visited the city with Margo and Keira, they had heard about Mirdel's plans for the people of Kandara, and it appeared that some magic had been worked upon them to make them more obedient. It was clear that Jan had been a court servant, which meant that she was likely a kind of pleasure slave to the duke and his soldiers. She glanced at the docile expressions on the other captives as Dala's people began to use the stones upon them, and she shuddered at the thought that all of them might have been used in such a way.

"We are sorry for taking your robes, Jan," Ariana said to the girl. "We must get into the palace."

"Take them," Jan said. "I wish to never see such garments again."

"Thank you," Ariana said, as Jan rubbed the tears from her eyes and stared at her.

"I have seen you before," she said, and she looked at the faces of the others in the room, then her gaze fell upon Borrican and her eyes widened.

"Prince Borrican," she said, falling to her knees. "You have returned."

"Please," Borrican said, and he held out his hand to her. "Do not kneel before me. The people of Kandara will never kneel again."

Jan rose to her feet and finally became conscious of the fact that she was unclothed. It had not seemed important when her focus was on Dala or the other woman who she recognized, though she looked very strange and different from before, but now that she realized how many people were present, and that the prince of her land was among them, she felt a little uncomfortable. Borrican noticed her unease and he averted his eyes.

"We will find you and the others some clothing," he said, looking to Margo. "Perhaps in one of the shops or in a nearby residence, there might be something."

Margo nudged Keira and the two women slipped out of the room.

"Thank you, Prince Borrican," Jan said, and she managed to turn her lips into a slight smile, though her eyes remained tired and sorrowful.

"You may thank Dala," he said. "She and her people have returned from the northern wastes. They are the Kandaran Watch, and they will help expel the darkness and protect the people of our land."

"You have my thanks, Dala," Jan said, then she turned to look at the other captives, who were now waking from the daze of the spell. "It will be difficult for many of them, but I will help them as much as I can."

It was not long before Margo and Keira returned with several bundles of clothing they had found in a nearby shop they had broken into. The captives freed and clothed, they agreed to stay in the storehouse under the protection of several of Dala's people, while their liberators donned the white robes and departed, traveling in small groups so as to attract as little attention as possible.

Ariana and Borrican, accompanied by Keira, made their way through the streets toward the palace, while Margo organized Dala and her people throughout the city, positioning them near the soldiers and shadowing their patrols, ready to attack once the signal was given. Jan had warned them that the palace was guarded both by the dead soldiers that Cerric had left behind and several dozen Darga, who had taken to randomly killing people for their own amusement. She had nearly been killed by them the previous day, simply because the lizard creatures were hungry and thought she might taste good, and she had only been spared at the last moment when servants had finally arrived with a prepared feast. Even though Jan had been unable to react to such things while under the influence of the magic that had enslaved her and the other Kandarans, her memory was clear and horribly vivid, and it had taken several tries before she was able to tell some of the things that had happened to her, and there were other things that she chose not to share. Borrican was outraged by what he had heard, but he did his best to keep his anger in check, for he could sense how fragile the girl was, even though she did her best to appear strong and helpful. Borrican could not wait to visit his wrath upon Mirdel and the Darga, and his thoughts weighed heavily upon him with every step that took him closer to the palace.

"Calm yourself, Borrican," Ariana whispered from beneath her white cloak. "You walk as though you are marching into battle."

"I am marching into battle," Borrican said, then he sighed impatiently and forced his shoulders to relax and slowed his gait, shuffling his feet along the ground to make it look more like he was walking in a daze, just another ensorceled Kandaran, on the way to serve the duke.

They passed through the gates without so much as a look from the guards, and made their way to the palace proper. The two guards outside the entrance to the throne room did not bar their way, though they leered and laughed when the three white robes approached. As they walked past, one of them reached out and smacked Keira on the backside, then gave her a squeeze, and it was all that the elven warrior could do to restrain herself.

"Now there's some fresh meat," the guard commented to his companion.

"Not for long," said the other one with a dark chuckle as the three white robes continued on in silence through the doorway and into the throne room.

They were greeted by an unexpected and ghastly sight. The once austere chamber of wood and stone, empty save for the king's throne and a few wooden tables had been completely remade, and turned into a kind of den of iniquity. Dark red fabric was draped over cushions and carpets that were occupied by numerous soldiers having their way with ensorcelled Kandaran prisoners, their white robes scattered upon the floor amongst piles of refuse of constant feasting. Rich trays of food and goblets of wine were placed precariously overtop gnawed bones and rinds of fruit, and several servants in white robes entered the room from the servants' door, replenishing the supply of food and drink, while completely oblivious to the pleasure throes occurring all around them.

Ariana stifled a gasp when a soldier's grey hand shot out from beneath a young woman who rode atop him, and he grabbed one of the servants, pulling her down to the cushions, spilling the jug of wine she carried. The girl did not even react to the mess or the shock of being yanked to the floor, and she simply joined in with the other girl, in giving the soldier what he wanted, as he tore the white cloak from her body. It was horrific to see and Ariana could feel Borrican's anger rising. She could hardly blame him since her own outrage and fury were quickly kindling into a blaze no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, and she was even more shocked when they passed another tented alcove where a female Darga was tearing a young man's flesh from his back with her claws, while he pleasured her. Ariana felt as though she might burst and she felt Borrican's fire begin to blaze through the link between their thoughts. She hoped he would not give them away, for they were almost through the sea of drapery and flesh to where they could see a large figure seated upon a cushioned litter at the head of the room. Ariana averted her eyes from the Darga, when the creature glanced up at her and sniffed the air, and she hoped they had not been discovered.

"Welcome, Akandar," a voice boomed from the head of the room as the group emerged from the tented area to see an enormous man sitting upon a litter that overlooked the remains of a banquet. The man laughed and his dead eyes glowed with unnatural light. "I wondered when you might return."

Dozens of Darga emerged from behind the drapes of fabric that covered the walls of the room. They were armored and armed, with their weapons ready, awaiting the command to attack.

"I suppose there is no point in hiding," Borrican growled as he pulled back the hood of his robe. "What have you done to the people of this land, Mirdel?"

"I have brought order and purpose to these people," he said. "As the servant of the one god it is my duty to keep peace in this land."

"This land was already peaceful before you came," Borrican said.

"Perhaps," Mirdel said with a smile. "But the people were without purpose, living out their little lives, doing as they pleased, with no true meaning. Now they serve the will of the one god, as do I."

"You call this meaningful?" Ariana yelled, no longer able to contain her outrage as flames burst around her, burning away the white cloak, which fell to the floor in a burning heap around her feet. "The people are become slaves. What meaning is that?"

"Now you are an intriguing creature," Mirdel said, leaning forward to look at her, and a strand of drool trailed from his mouth. "I wonder how you will taste upon the blade of my sword?"

"You and your god will pay for what you have done here," Borrican growled.

"Brave words, Akandar," Mirdel said. "It is too bad that you are too weak to follow them."

"You will see how weak I am," Borrican said and he ran toward the man, brandishing the sword that he had received from Dala and the people of her village.

The Darga leapt forward, defending Mirdel, and meeting Borrican with their own weapons, pushing him back and attacking the trio who had thought they could sneak into the palace. Ariana blasted the creatures with fire, but they were impervious to it and she barely managed to draw her long dagger when they were upon her. Keira blocked several attacks that were meant for Ariana, then she began to move with blinding speed, attacking the Darga, using the way of movement she and Margo had learned from the people of the village. The stones and steel embedded in her body glowed as their energy flowed through her, giving her far greater strength, and she was able to match the much larger Darga. The lizard creatures fell back at the unexpected ferocity of her attack, then they redoubled their efforts when they saw Ariana and Borrican pushing through their opponents as well.