Fifthwind (44 page)

Lightning
flashed and thunder cracked and Ben was suddenly back in the cave. He
was still trembling and his eyes were wide with disbelief.
"Eliane..."

The
whims of ambitious men...

Ben
spun around in the darkness and as before, found no one responsible
for the voice. He said, "She's alive?"

Only
the awful silence of the cave answered him.

"Tell
me!" Ben screamed in rage. His weapon was drawn and his knuckles
were white against the cold metal. Anger was building inside of him
and he swung his blade madly through the air of the empty cave. A
primal cry escaped his lips and his sword fell from his weak hands as
he collapsed to his knees in crestfallen resignation.

While
the possibility of Elaine's survival ran circles through his mind,
there were other, more weighty thoughts that tore through his sobs
and replaced his thoughts of a lost love with questions of motives,
intents, and betrayed loyalties. The Aristeeds had been falsely
accused; they had been intentionally framed, and the killing of the
Lady Elaine had been staged. For what purpose? How many knew? How
many more were involved?

Those
questions and more pulled at his thoughts and pointed at an
unavoidable truth. The King of Meirnac was at the riddle's center, as
was Elaine herself. The Kreggorian soldiers who found the body
beneath the cliffs, as well as the soldiers who had collected the
assassin's bodies from the street were all part of the scheme. It
sickened him to think that King Erlich himself might have been
entwined in this unsavory plot. What political agenda had been
served?

A
foul distaste was growing on the back of Ben's tongue and in his head
he heard over and over the mantra of the Fahd's first edict.

Ben
retrieved his sword from the cold, damp floor of the cave and slowly
stood. The lesson he had learned was beyond dispute. He cleared his
throat and said with the unwavering voice of conviction, "The Fahd
offer allegiance to no King or country ."

The
voice of the cave answered his words,
For your power is too great
to bend to the whims of ambitious men.

For
hours upon hours, Ben was then shown images of hate, and greed, and
death and atrocities dealt by the hands of arrogant men. Images of
soldiers blindly marching to their deaths, not for a noble cause, but
rather to feed the egos of men on lofty perches in stone towers and
opulent temples. There was no path for him there. No road he wished
to follow. He now understood what it meant to stand between the lines
of nations, outside the hold of loyalties.

The
sound of rattling chains stirred him from his sleep. He did not know
how long he had been in the cave, but was suddenly aware of his
intense hunger. The door swung open and Cobalius entered the cave and
helped Ben to his feet. He was weak and his knees wobbled beneath him
as he exited the cave and made his way out into the courtyard of
Arlemon.

Cobalius
deposited him on a bench and opened a nearby satchel. He rummaged
through it and produced a handful of figs. "Eat these. They'll give
you strength, and are easy on your stomach. We can't rush too much
food into you all at once."

Ben
took the fruit and ate. Once the nourishment met his mouth, he
realized how ravished he was. "How long was I in there?"

"Six
days," Cobalius said. "I was beginning to wonder if the shrine
would ever release you."

Somehow,
Ben was not surprised. Though he had no specific memory of the time
spent in the cave, he felt as if he had relived his entire life. He
had faced a mirror of himself and watched as the layers were torn
away to reveal what lay beneath. He was not the same man who had
entered the shrine almost a week before.

As
Ben ate, he mulled over all he had learned. The Fahd were so much
more than he had expected. Vincent had only scratched the surface of
the old folklore, and had missed completely many of the meanings.
Even the statue in the woods had been sorely misrepresented by
Vincent's historical accounts. He wondered how much more would he
learn before his part was done.

Ben
had faced the ugly side of his own existence and had changed in ways
that could never be undone. He now saw the world more clearly and
without the burden of prejudice. He had already subconsciously
removed most of his former fealties, realizing just how absurd such
loyalties could be. He knew that he could never again be a vassal of
Kreggoria and understood that he carried a fate that outweighed the
needs of a single man.

That
night, Ben slept better than he ever remembered. There were still
many unanswered questions, questions he would someday pursue, but for
the moment, he felt cleansed as if released from the burdens of his
former life.

The
next day, he paid another visit to the Fahd council chambers in the
heart of Arlemon and read again the sacred edicts of the ancient
brotherhood. He visited the library and fed his curiosity about the
history of Kreggoria, Tania and the lands of Aristeed. He spent the
entire day embracing the wisdom of The Eleven and the words they had
set down to guide future generations of their kind.

In
the afternoon, he sat and relaxed in the courtyard and realized that
he could easily stay in Arlemon forever. It was a peaceful place of
tranquil thoughts and unlimited knowledge, but he knew that his time
there was coming to an end. He knew that his lessons were complete
and he would soon return to Kishell Springs. He smiled as he thought
of his friends, and was eager for the reunion. He had come to
understand the Fahd, but that did not change his feelings for those
he had left behind. It was time to go back.

"There's
not much time," Cobalius said, walking into the courtyard and
disturbing Ben's quiet moment. "You've regained your strength and
we're needed elsewhere."

"What
has happened?"

"The
Core have attacked a small village southwest of here. There are a few
survivors holding out the best they can, but they won't last too much
longer without help. If we don't don't do something to help them
soon, they will be lost and our enemy will have gained an important
foothold. They must be stopped."

Ben's
thoughts immediately jumped to Mason and Kyla and the rest of his
friends and how they faced a similar threat. He had wished to return
to Kishell Springs to help them in that fight, but he felt his heart
sink for the villagers Cobalius had just described. He knew that The
Core would not stop until they were all dead and the only crime they
had committed was to find themselves standing between greedy men and
their ambitions. Even though he longed for a chance to return to
Kishell Springs, he knew that The Core must be confronted whenever
and wherever its face scowled upon the land.

Ben
stood up and gathered his things from the edge of the bench; he did
not have much, he had arrived with only his sword and the clothes on
his back. He patted himself down and was satisfied that he had
everything he needed. Without any further hesitation, he said, "Let's
go."

Cobalius
gave Ben a cautious smile. "This will mean a delay in getting you
back to your friends."

Ben
nodded. "Mason is a capable man. He can take care of himself and
the others for a while. It would be an injustice to sacrifice those
poor people and give victory to The Core only to return to Kishell
Springs now."

"Are
you sure?"

Ben
took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded
resolutely. "What's happening is bigger than me or my friends. The
Core and the suffering they cause must be stopped."

"You've
made the right choice, Ben," Cobalius said and slowly lifted his
gloved hand. "If you're ready... come with me."

Ben
gripped Cobalius' hand and watched as the world shattered into a
million bright lights and he was pulled away through a swirling
tunnel.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Ben
fought back nausea as he was instantly pulled over jagged mountains
and through thick forests like a smear on a wet canvas. Shifting such
great distances was a skill he did not think he would ever manage to
get used to, much less achieve on his own. In the time it took him to
focus his eyes, he had already arrived and was swallowing back his
queasiness. Unlike the first time Cobalius had transported him, this
time he had remained conscious when he snapped back into the more
colorful of the two worlds. He took a moment to let his stomach
settle, then looked around.

He
was on a wooded hilltop, standing calf-deep in snow. The valley below
him stretched for as far as he could see, and there was no sign of
any town. The wilderness was quiet, and the air was cold. Apparently,
Cobalius had intentions of walking from here to their destination. It
would not be the first time that his mentor chose to make things more
difficult than necessary.

Ben
pulled his cloak tighter around his neck and turtled his head down
into the folds of the cloth. Already, he could feel his nose turning
red and his ears felt brittle. He turned to Cobalius, who did not
seem to mind the cold, and said, "I hope it's not too far."

"It
is, if you plan on going that way," Cobalius smirked, and then
thumbed back over his shoulder, suggesting that Ben turn around.

Ben
turned and looked with stunned surprise at the familiar valley and
walled town of Kishell Springs. He was standing on the same hilltop
as he had on his first arrival months earlier. Snow now blanketed the
entire valley, but the same hint of smoke, carried on the breeze,
lifted his mood in the way it always did. This time, however, there
was a more significant reason for the simple smell of smoke to uplift
his spirit. It meant that someone was still alive to stoke the fires.
A broad smile threatened to break his cheeks.

"Thank
you, Fahd Cobalius," was all he said. It was all he needed to say.

"Don't
thank me. This is where The Fahd are needed. Your selfless decision a
moment ago speaks volumes of your integrity. I'm very pleased, and
impressed. It's time to put what you've learned to use. Not to
mention, I think it's overdue that you introduce me to that girl of
yours."

Ben
did not wait for instruction or permission, and started the trek down
into the valley. Unlike the last time he walked this path, he
approached the town with a certain level of apprehension. He sorely
missed his friends and was anxious to reunite with them, but it also
occurred to him that there was a very real possibility that the enemy
he and Cobalius sought could be one of the many faces he trusted.

"Who
do you suspect?" said Ben, knowing Cobalius would understand. He
paused to consider that he had never really asked that question of
himself. He had always assumed that the enemy of Kishell Springs lay
somewhere outside the circle of people that he knew. It was easier to
think of his foe as faceless and far away.

Cobalius
answered Ben's question matter-of-factly. "I've had my eye on just
about everyone at one point or another. Actually, Kyla was my first
suspicion, though I've since removed her from my list. Her interest
in magic comes from the obsession of a curious man. Her father is a
scholar of the old ways and has sought to teach his daughter to use
an emerging force, but I don't believe that either have ill intent."

Ben
considered what he knew of those who had remained in Kishell Springs
after most had left. "Brother Babbitt was acting strangely the last
few days before I left. He seems innocent enough, but his behavior
was odd. Then, maybe there's Gordo. I know almost nothing of this
man, and he seems to always appear in the middle of troublesome
times."

Cobalius
said, "Admittedly, I've been watching the holy man closest.
Something about that Mr. Babbitt bothers me. He may seem clumsy,
cowardly, and for the most part, amiable, but appearances can often
be deceiving."

Ben
took on a concerned but undecided expression. "I've never much
liked him either, but he's almost always with us. Even when the
attacks came, he was in our presence. At the statues in the forest, I
saw him and the Man in Gray only moments apart. He couldn't possibly
be in two places at once."

"Can't
he? Don't presume to know what is possible when dealing with The
Core. They are very powerful and their knowledge of how to weave
magic is very old."

"How
are we going to know?" asked Ben. "There's got to be some way to
identify who it is."

Cobalius
pointed an accusing finger toward the town. "Someone down there has
got something to hide and is not going to like me being around. The
arrival of a Fahd in their midst is sure to stir some kind of a
reaction. So, keep your eyes open."

"Then
again," Ben said, "there's always the possibility that whoever it
is still hides on the outskirts and has not yet shown himself. Maybe
everyone in town is innocent after all."

Cobalius
raised a doubtful eyebrow. "We shall see."

Ben
shrugged off his ponderings and increased his pace. "There's no
point in freezing out here talking about it. What do you say we get
into town and I buy you something to eat?"

"I've
heard that James Holton's pork roast is some of the best around. I
hope they still have enough food rationed to serve up a plate or
two." Cobalius then added with a hint of sarcasm, "And maybe
they'll have some Kragg juice left for you."

Ben
retraced the exact route he had followed when he and Mason had
arrived in Kishell Springs months before. The rocky slope was now
covered with snow, but stalks of tall grass poked up through the
crust. Ben halted when he remembered the strange encounter he had
experienced with a dark figure in this very meadow.

Like
the last piece of a puzzle being placed, his eyes brightened and he
turned to his companion. "Even then, on my first day, you were
watching me. I clearly saw you up there in the trees, then, with no
warning, you were in the grass coming toward me. I thought I was
seeing a ghost and ran like a mad man all the way to the road."