Death Or Fortune (42 page)

     
Bishop Hans bolted out of his modest bed wide awake.  He looked around the
room, seeing that he was alone yet he could feel something.  It reminded
him of being deep under water, the feeling of being under pressure.  His
hand went to his chest, feeling the one thing that gave him comfort, his
medallion of Solarth.  As his hand wrapped around it, he went to his knees
to seek out his god’s wisdom for answers.  Answers on how to deal with
what cannot be seen, to battle the feeling of dread that was rising in his
chest.  As he cleared his mind and began to pray to the good god, he found
something waiting for him.  The shock of it all made his hand go limp and
his head start to swim.  He was given a vision of clouds and racing water.
 No, the water was still, he was racing over the water.  He looked
ahead and could feel the wind on his face, there was land ahead.  As the
vision shifted higher he could see the land and he knew it well.  In his
life he had served on one sailing ship, he knew the coast line of Eystlund when
he saw it.  As it soared over the land below he could see where it was
headed.  The capital of Arcadia looked tiny from way up above.  When
the beast let out a roar the vision was shattered, he was back in his room.
 The pressure he had felt before was gone, yet he knew it wasn't really
gone. S omething was coming; this is what Solarth was telling him.
     "This is all you give me? How am I supposed to
deal with this?" As Hans got to his feet he looked around the room once
more, looking for some kind of sign, a puff of smoke, a talking animal, even
something as silly as a mouse. "Fine, then I shall be ready for the
worst." Walking to the door of his room, knowing he would see someone out
there waiting for him he flung the door open.  As he guessed there was one
of them, the ones he could not make leave him alone. They all took turns; there
were four of them all together.  In his head Hans took to calling them the
watchers. "You, go find Brother Michaels.  Tell him it is time to
fight and to be ready." The young priest stood and stared at him with his
mouth hanging open. "GO NOW!" Hans shouted at him.  He slammed
the door closed and cursed the fool that let that one off his mother’s apron
strings.  Standing before his wardrobe he placed his hand over his
medallion one last time, waiting for some kind of sign. "Very well
then" he said to no one at all as he opened the doors to the wardrobe.
 Stripping off his night robe he stood there for one last moment, his hand
outstretched yet not touching what he was looking at.  As his hand closed
over the top lip of his breastplate, he knew this was the only thing he could
do.
     Hans took his time with the armor.  He had done
this hundreds of times.  He knew where each and every strap was without
looking.  Soon he stood there looking at himself, nothing was lose, the
armor fit him like a second skin.  He reached inside again pulling out his
travel robes, putting those on over the armor.  Then came the belt, one
side would hold healing potions, the other only had one single loop on it.
 This is where his hammer rested, he slid the shaft into the loop and a
smile broke out on his face when it stopped. "I should wear this every
day.  Let’s see if those fools still follow me around with this thing on
my hip." He reached inside for the last two objects.  His helm that
he put on his head right away and his shield that he strapped to his back.
"I wonder if I should call for Darmot and Pare, I might need some help.
 No, I better not, Darmot is a Lord now and he has his own problems.
 Michaels and I will deal with this best we can, besides I don't even know
what it is that is coming." Little did Hans know that right at that
moment, Darmot was in fact dealing with problems of his own.  None of
which had to do with being a Lord.

     By the
time Hans made it to his office, the temple was starting show signs of life.
 Young priest and those few war orphans left in the temple were headed to
morning prayers.  The sight of the Bishop striding through the temple in
full armor left a wake of confusion in his trail.  He strode into his
office and checked the small pile of messages on his desk.  All of it
minor, none of it required any of his attention until this was handled.
 Turning away from his desk he left the office behind and set his mind to
waiting for the unknown.  When he exited the office he was shocked for a
small moment.  Every man and child who lived in the temple of Solarth was
standing here, waiting for their Bishop, their leader.  Well, every man except
for one Hans thought to himself as he looked around for Michaels.  They
were all quiet at first, Hans was about to give thanks for that when they all
started talking at once.  Hans removed his helm and held up one hand
hoping that they would listen.  He tried talking to them, tried to get
them to listen yet they seemed to be in a minor panic.  None of them
understood what he was doing.  A couple of them thought the new Bishop had
finally lost his mind.  When the sound of a sword being drawn echoed about
the chamber, all fell silent and moved aside.  Michaels, Paladin of
Solarth was moving past the gathered brothers.
     "Bishop Hans, may Solarth strengthen my sword arm
today in your time of need.  You have called, I am here." With this
he dropped to one knee and laid his sword at the feet of the slightly amused
Bishop.
    "Stand beside me Sir Michaels. The rest of you, I want
to tell you this and listen well.  I have been given a sign. Something is
coming but I do not know what it is.  I want you all to be prepared for
the worst.  Now, this could be nothing but I will not ignore what could
very well be a warning.  Brother Johnson, I want you to make sure that you
have anything you may need to deal with wounded men, beyond even our ability to
use the gifts of our god.  Brother Thomas, you will make sure all the
water barrels are filled.  If there is a fire, this will be your task.
 To make sure any fires are put out.  While these walls are made of
stone, everything else will burn. Brother Timothy, you will take all the young
ones.  You are to take all the horses from the stables except for Sir
Michaels mount.  You will take them and the young ones out of the city,
find the horses fresh fields to graze in.  Return before sun sets, I am
hoping that whatever happens will be over by then.  Now, the rest of you
will make yourselves ready to do as told, when told to.  After morning
prayers, go!" With this out of the way Hans turned back around and headed
into his office with Michaels right behind him.  He wanted to get out of
their sight, he couldn't stand the eyes on him any longer.
     "Sir Michaels?" he asked the bishop when the
door was closed.
     "I am sorry Michaels, when you put your sword on
the floor like that it was the first thing to pop into my mind."
     "You do know I was never a knight? It is rather
silly to all of a sudden call me Sir Michaels; most of the people here know I
wasn't a knight." Michaels seemed content to continue this line of
discussion but stopped when Hans held up his hand.
     "I know, you were never a knight. I am a bit
unsettled at the moment, so you will have to forgive me." While Hans cared
about Michaels, he was the one person who seemed even more absent minded than
him.  He started to wonder if Zender ever spoke to himself, somehow he doubted
it.  Not that Lomark left him alone long enough to pick up the habit.
 Hans placed both his hands over his face while letting out a long sigh.
 He started to tell Michaels about the vision he had, the more he spoke
about it, the better he felt.

    
"Interesting, how did it make you feel?" Michaels asked.
     "What do you mean?"
     "Well sometimes there is more to this than just
what you see. How did it make you feel, where you filled with a sense of fear
or anything like that?"

    
"I am not sure.  All I know is that this thing, it brings bad news
for us.  I wish I could tell you something more.  So, for now I would
just like you to stick around.  Help when and where you can.  I have
a feeling you will know when to come." Hans sat down in his chair and felt
it protest the extra weight of his armor.  He thought for one small moment
he would end up on the floor, yet in the end it held.  He gave Michaels
one last smile before he exited the Bishops office.  Hans often thought of
Michaels as his child, his one shot at continuing on what had been passed on to
him.  As Zender had done for him, he opened the door for Michaels.
 They traveled together for some time and when he was set in the right
path, he went out on his own.  Then he came back, Hans never questioned
why Michaels had returned.  Perhaps this was his place in the world.
 Yet somehow he doubted it.  He saw so much potential in Michaels,
yet he was here.

     As the day
wore on, Hans had started to think he was wrong. "I've scared the hell out
of every man in this temple for no reason at all. What could I have been
thinking?" Yet he kept his armor on, he kept his weapon by his side.
 He did not tell anyone to stand down.  Deep inside he knew in his
heart that something terrible was coming.  He started to pace around his
office, looking out the windows.  He could hear all the activity inside
the temple, he could see them running around outside to make everything he said
ready. "We must first protect the temple. When that is completed we will
see to the people outside of the walls, help those who cannot help their
selves. This temple must not fall, there is too much at risk.  If anything
we must protect the pool of knowledge." This was the name Hans had given
the room where all the scrolls and books were hidden.  Where every bit of
knowledge and history of the order of Solarth was kept.  Hans was the
guardian of this and it was his job to protect it. "Is that why I was so
worried about fire?  I wonder what a fire would do down there.  If
the room has any protections of its own."

     Just about
the time Hans told himself it would be foolish to start a small fire in the
room he heard the first scream. "It is outside!" Hans ran from the
room, leaving his helm behind on his desk.  As he pulled open the office
door he saw Michaels rushing towards it.  No words were spoken, only a
knowing glance.  The two men headed towards the front door of the temple.
 As the two exited the temple they saw the people in the streets.
 All of them looking up, pointing at something.  When Michaels
gripped his arm and pointed Hans saw it.  A dragon was above the city.
 It made two slow twisting passes above the city; Hans thought he saw a
hint of something. It was then that the beast started to come in for a landing.
"It is going to land here, shut that door and be ready Michaels!"
Hans could hear the whistles in the streets, the city guard had seen the beast
and were getting their men together. "They are going to be too late."
As the dragon came closer Hans braced himself for the natural fear that came
from facing such beast.  Yet something else came over him, something he
had not expected at all.  The silver dragon landed only feet away from the
temple stairs.  Hans and Michaels looked to each other then back to the
dragon. Each man then took to one knee as they were sure this was a sign from
their god.

     "Do
not bow to me Guardian as I have done the fathers bidding in this task."
Hans looked up at the dragon, unsure what to say. "Many days I have
carried this one.  He has a tale to tell when he can stand to tell it.
 Listen well Guardian, the destiny of many depend on this one." Hans
watched as the dragon laid down a bundle on the ground.  Hans was
speechless as he watched the dragon nod to him and then as it looked to
Michaels.  Hans thought he saw a quick hint of something in those eyes but
it was gone just as fast. "I will leave you now Guardian, I do not wish to
harm the humans here." With a second nod to the cleric the beast spread
his wings again and took off from the temple grounds.  Hans watched as
long as he could, the dragon was gone before he could blink twice.

    
"Bishop, there is a man in here.  He is in an Arcadian uniform."
Hans looked around and saw Michaels down with the bundle the dragon had left
behind.  Hans rushed down the temple steps to join his friend.  Hans
put his hand to the man's neck, while his pulse was there but not very strong.

     "Help
me carry him inside." Hans said to him.  The two men carried the man
inside as others were coming out of the temple. "Make way, he needs
healing." Hans could hear the city guards running through the streets,
they were too late but this man was one of their own.  Hans had to get him
inside before they saw him.  Deep inside the temple they took the man to
the room Brother Johnson had prepared earlier that day.  As Hans started
to pray for the man’s healing Michaels leaned over the body and placed his
hands on the man’s chest.  The healing surge was almost visible to his
eyes.  Hans took a good look at the man’s face and remembered watching him
get on the ship that carried him away so many months ago.  His screams
filled the silent room when his eyes opened.  "Easy now, you are home
and safe." The man looked around and then stopped at the face of Hans.

    
 "I remember you Bishop." he said in a soft and hoarse voice.

     "What
happened, where is the rest of your party?  Where is the priestess
Kandella?"

    
"Captured, they were all captured.  We found that island she was
looking for, even found that temple.  That is when we were taken."

    "Taken by
who?" Hans asked trying to give the man some water to help soothe his
throat.

    
"Orcs; thousands of them.  They were under the command of some human.
 Mage in black robes, they called him Argon the Dark.  They had a
bunch of slaves, I assume they were the people who lived on the island.  I
managed to get away, Kandella said to warn you.  They are coming, they are
going to attack.  I saw the ships Bishop, at least a hundred of them.
 Some they built using the slaves, others they took.  They captured
us and that ship’s crew by the time it was all done.  When I escaped I
headed south looking for some kind of help.  I found an elf living in a
cave and she told me she could get me home.  That is the last thing I
remember until I woke up here.  I have to warn the king, I have to tell
him that they are coming."