Conflict (5 page)

“Why don’t we simply wait until they appear again, then capture one and interrogate him?” said Hartz, finishing his glass of wine.

“I agree with that strategy,” said Lindaro. “Better wait for them in a safe place and try to find out what they want from you.” He went to the window as he said this and looked out into the darkness.

“I don’t agree. I’m with Komir in this,” said Kayti. “If we find out what it is they’re looking for, we’ll be ahead of them. Then when they come, sooner or later, we’ll have the advantage. I don’t like the idea of waiting until they come one night and cut our throats in our sleep…”

Hartz lowered his enormous body into one of the tiny chairs. “I’ll do whatever you say, Komir, you know that.”

The four of them remained silent for a moment, weighing the odds, until Kayti broke the silence in a soft voice.

“Hmmm… Perhaps we already have what they’re looking for…”

“What do you mean?” asked Komir.

“The Ilenian King’s sword. It’s no ordinary sword, it has power. A very valuable, ancient power.”

“Power?” said Lindaro, interested. “What kind of power?”

“A strange, dangerous one. I’d say it was forged with several spells. Powerful spells for whoever wields it,” said the warrior woman.

“Could you explain that?” asked Lindaro. “What’s all this about powerful spells in a sword? Could it be bewitched?”

Kayti turned to look into Hartz’s eyes. With a nod she motioned him to tell the story of what had happened in the ambush they had fallen into. Hartz took a sip of wine and slowly narrated the events. He explained in detail about the awakening of the sword, the feelings and energy unleashed in him, the communication which had sprung up between him and the weapon and how powerful he had felt with it in his hand.

“Unbelievable!” exclaimed Lindaro. “It’s amazing, a weapon of power! They were believed extinct. Only in certain very ancient volumes can you find references to those weapons, books which tell of the deeds of heroes in the distant past. They’re considered nothing more than legends and exaggerations, beautifully-wrought stories to raise the people’s spirits. And you’re telling me they really do exist?” He was so excited he could not stand still.

“Don’t get so excited, priest, the sword is mine and you’re not going to take it away under any circumstances,” Hartz warned him, looking very serious.

“But we should study it, analyze it to find out its secrets! Think of what we could learn, and the good it could bring…”

“And the evil,” warned Kayti. “Think of the evil it might do if it fell into evil hands. Let me remind you that you’re on the verge of a war with your neighbors in the south, the Nocean Empire. If their Sorcerers should get hold of it… if someone with power wielded it…”

“I understand what you mean, but it’ll be safe here. We’ll hide it in the Temple and protect it.”

“A handful of defenseless priests? What can you protect?” boomed Hartz. “This sword is mine and it’s going to stay with me! And if somebody wants to take it away from me I’ll crush his skull! Is that clear enough?”

“I won’t dare try,” said Lindaro, backing up to the window in the face of the big Norriel’s outburst.

“Do you believe they’re looking for the sword, Kayti?” asked Komir.

“It’s possible. The sword, or maybe some other object that’s even more powerful. We don’t really know what else was in the temple, or if there’s more than one temple with objects of power. And if that’s the case and there are more hidden temples, they might not be looking for the sword but for something more powerful still. Something that could sway the result of a battle, or even conquer whole kingdoms for whoever wields it…”

Komir put his hand on his chest; under his doublet hung the medallion which had saved his life. He thought about revealing that mystery to his friends, but he would have to explain too many things, some of them quite unnerving. It was not the time or the place to reveal his power and its connection with the Ilenian medallion. He decided to keep the secret for the moment.

“Our Order, the Custodial Brotherhood, has proof of the existence of such objects in the private archive of our fortress.”

“Private archive?” said Lindaro gleefully, rubbing his hands in anticipation. “Fascinating! I’d love to visit it, it would be fantastic. Has any information been compiled about the objects?”

“We have descriptions and even sketches of several weapons of power. Unfortunately most of them disappeared mysteriously in ancient times. But they existed, and some have been recovered by our Order. The main function of the Brotherhood, following the designs of Zuline, the Custodian Lady, Patroness of the Order and founder, is to watch that these objects don’t fall into the wrong hands, so that the balance between good and evil doesn’t tilt towards the dark side. Zuline was the first person to find an Object of Power, by accident. It was a ring with an unknown gem which had the power to heal non-lethal illnesses and injuries. That jewel and the good she could do with it impressed her greatly. So much so that she decided to devote her life to finding other objects with similar blessings. Over time other people joined her with the same aim, and she founded the Custodial Brotherhood.”

“Did they discover many benign objects of power?” Lindaro asked.

“Not really… Unfortunately, in all the long life she dedicated to the search they only managed to find a few objects, which turned out to be weapons of destruction, of evil. To be exact, they found two: the Midnight Dagger and Torgreson’s Axe, both with the power to bring about death. The danger these weapons contained within them strengthened the Brotherhood’s determination, and from that moment, more than two hundred years ago, our Order has searched for objects of power all over Tremia. But they are very scarce. It’s practically a miracle to come across one. When a reference is found the Brotherhood studies it and follows up the lead, and if it finally leads to the discovery of one of these precious objects, then we take it back for study. If it turns out to be a destructive one, it’s then hidden in a secret place so that it doesn’t fall into the hands of evil.”

“Your order has an interesting point of view…” said Lindaro, fixing his eyes on the redhead. “I don’t think it’s entirely correct, but it’s interesting… I had no knowledge of its existence, although since you’re from far-away lands it’s not really so surprising. How many Objects of Power has your Order found, if you’re free to tell us?”

“Very few. It’s extremely difficult to find them. Most of the hints we follow lead us to a dead end, or else are elaborate legends or myths. In all the years of existence of the Brotherhood only half a dozen objects have been found in all Tremia, most of them deadly.”

“I see. It’s a dedicated life, that of your Brotherhood, with very little reward. Is it possible that those objects might be originally Ilenian? Like the sword Hartz carries?”

“It’s possible. To my knowledge I can confirm that the hypothesis has been taken into consideration by our scholars, but it’s never been verified. The truth is, we don’t know where those objects originated.”

“Well, well, I see your tongue is finally loosening up, huh?” said Hartz. He looked at her ironically, and she returned his gaze with fury.

Kayti took a couple of steps forward. She breathed deeply, then let the air out as if with it she was getting rid of her anger.

“That sword is a weapon of power and therefore of interest to my Order, that’s why I mentioned it. It mustn’t fall into the hands of evil. I’m also not sure that it’ll be completely safe in your hands,” she told Hartz defiantly.

“In my hands is where it’ll stay, safe or not. And you can keep any idea of taking the sword away from me and carrying it to your fortress out of your pretty little red head, because I won’t allow it,” said the big Norriel. He shook his finger at her.

“Don’t be such a brute! The safest thing would be for my order to protect the sword and study it. It’s an armed Order, we’re all soldiers and we have an impregnable fortress to the east, a long way from here, in the kingdom of Irinel. It’ll be safe and well looked-after. It’ll never be used for evil. I swear it on my life!”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Kayti, not that I do actually, but I trust your Brotherhood even less. And after seeing your Brothers killed in that ambush I don’t believe your fortress is as impregnable as you say.”

“How dare you sully the name of my dead Brothers! They died defending their beliefs and the Brotherhood, you ignorant dirty swine from the mountains!” shouted Kayti, beside herself with anger. Her hand was on her sword.

Komir jumped up and tried to calm the young redhead.

“Let’s all calm down, please, and not get carried away by our emotions. Kayti, sit down, please.”

She looked at him with fiery eyes, her hand still on the pommel of her sword.

“Come on…Kayti, please…”

She looked at him long as she fought within herself. At last the flames in her eyes died down. She sat down slowly, but did not let go of her sword.

“Let’s all take a moment to calm down,” said Lindaro in a soothing voice. He turned thoughtfully back to the window. “I think tonight’s intense events have affected all of us. I’m with Kayti, I don’t believe the sword is what they’re looking for. It has to be something more powerful. I’m not saying that the sword is not valuable, because it is, as Kayti has pointed out, but they must be looking for something else. Think about it… From what you’ve told me these past days ‒ correct me if I’m wrong ‒ some foreigners from a distant land nobody’s ever heard of appeared in Norriel territory and attacked a family in the high and remote mountains. An attack destined to kill Komir, no doubt about that. But why kill a young Norriel who’d never left his territory? He wasn’t a threat to anybody… Unless for some reason those foreigners believed he was. He, or else something in his possession… If the only unusual thing you had was that medallion, it stands to reason that there’s a link between that medallion and the fact they want to kill you. If we analyze the events, the medallion has led us to the Lost Civilization. So, I guess the mystery of your past and the reason for killing you must have something to do with the Lost Civilization, the Ilenians. Do you agree?”

Komir’s thoughts turned back to the medallion of the Ilenian King which hung hidden within his clothes. There had to be a link, although he could see none. His instinct told him that the medallion was very important and was linked in some way to the death of his parents.

“I got lost in all that a long while ago,” said Hartz with a grin.

“I’m not surprised,” said Kayti. She let go of her sword at last and poured out more wine for everyone. “You have a brain the size of an acorn!”

“Enlighten us with your wisdom, redhead of the east,” replied Hartz with an exaggerated bow towards the young warrior.

“All right, as you ask, you dope! I’ll enlighten you a little, even though I’m not sure it’ll do you any good. I agree with Lindaro. I believe there’s a connection between the Lost Civilization, Komir and the foreign warriors, even though we can’t see it at the moment. That’s why I think the best thing to do is to go one step ahead and try to find out what the connection is. That’ll help us to be better prepared for the next danger. If we know what they’re after, we can anticipate their movements and defeat them.”

“One thing is clear: they want me dead,” said Komir. He sat down on the stool again. “We don’t have any other clues at the moment. But I agree that we should look for them and get some answers that might help us foresee our enemy’s next move. There’s one thing that surprises me, though, Kayti. Why are you saying we? This fight isn’t your concern, you needn’t stay with us.”

“As long as you’re in possession of an Object of Power, it’s my duty as a member of the Custodial Brotherhood to ensure it doesn’t fall into the hands of evil. ¡Although to be honest, the hands it’s in now don’t pose any danger, seeing that if it’s going to be used, either for good or ill, a brain is needed, and your friend clearly doesn’t have one.” She looked fiercely at the big Norriel.

Silence fell on the little room. None of the four uttered a sound.

All of a sudden Hartz’s strong, contagious laughter burst out like an explosion which filled the cell. It was so loud that Lindaro took a step back in fear. He recovered, then began to laugh as well. Soon they were all laughing as hard as their aching bodies would allow. Tears began to stream down Komir’s face, and he nearly fell off his stool. Like a healing balm, the laughter dispelled all the tension which had built up after the attack and the tense conversation.

When they were able to breathe normally again, Komir stood up and stretched.

“There’s one more thing we have to deal with,” he said, looking firmly into Kayti’s eyes.

“Go ahead,” she said. “I’m listening.”

“You have your reasons for coming with us, I understand that. But in order to allow you to do so, I need you to give me your word that you won’t turn against us. Swear on your honor that you’ll accept my decisions and those of Hartz without question, or else I won’t let you come. Whatever the decisions may be, and even though they might affect the future of this sword or any other object of power we might find. Think well before you say anything. You’ll have to do what we say, whether you agree or not. This isn’t up for negotiation.”

Kayti looked at him thoughtfully, weighing his words and their consequences. At last she said: “You have my word, as a Knight of the Custodial Brotherhood.”